Adventures in Private Schooling
by MintyWrites
Summary: Norman has to leave Blithe Hollow and start anew at Ashland Academy with his cousin, Coraline. His roommate, Dipper, is preoccupied with ghost hunting, and doesn't notice when Norman develops feelings for him. Warning- could get a little scary! Nothing too bad but those who are scared easily may not want to read later chapters in the dark.
1. Chapter 1

Author's note: This story was inspired by this work of art: dot com/gallery/#/d5fcjz9 I know there are a lot of fanfictions that have this premise, I'm sorry if it seems like I am copying but aside from the premise I came up with the canon on my own. I did change the school from Blithe Hollow to Ashland, which is the town Coraline takes place in, because it fit better with the content of the story. This is my headcanon for how these three worlds come together.

* * *

Norman looked out the plane window at his hometown, Blithe Hollow, disappearing into the distance. He had never been outside New England before, and he was about to start school on the other side of the country. Norman sighed and looked down at his shoes. His mother put her hand on his shoulder and said, "Don't worry, Norman. You'll make new friends, and it'll all be okay."

The fourteen-year-old sighed again and brought his knees to his chin, hugging them tightly. He didn't even want to go to Ashland Academy, his parents were only sending him there because his cousin went there and could help him out. He tried not to think about being deposited into a new environment with new people, and it didn't help that there was a ghost floating around inside the plane.

Norman and his mother didn't converse much during the flight. Two and a half movies later, they landed in Portland, Oregon. They stepped outside the airport to find Coraline waiting for them.

"Norman! Aunt Sandy!" she waved excitedly at them, and ran over to greet her little cousin. "I haven't seen you in so long!"

"How have you been, Coraline?" Norman's mother caught up with her niece as Norman took a look around at his new home. Well, the airport near his new home. Portland was a big city, much unlike Blithe Hollow, and Norman felt anxious just thinking about trying to find his way around the concrete jungle.

Norman snapped back to the conversation when his mother began saying her final goodbyes to her son. "I know you may have some trouble at first, Norman, but Coraline is here to help you adjust. And remember honey, keep your gift to yourself. We don't want it getting you into trouble again."

"I know, mom..." Norman mumbled as his mother gave him a hug goodbye.

"I love you sweetie. And your father and Courtney love you too. Give us a call anytime."

"Okay, mom." Norman replied. His mother proceeded to hurry back into the airport to catch the return flight.

"I guess it's just you and me, Norm." Coraline said as she took one of his bags and led him to her car. "So are you pumped for the excitement of Ashland? It's not all that exciting, actually. But sometimes that's a good thing."

"Don't I know it..." Norman said as he threw his bag in the backseat.

Norman didn't have to try to make conversation with Coraline. It was a long drive, but the two hadn't seen each other since Coraline moved to Oregon six years earlier, so they had a lot to catch up on. She had grown to like it in Ashland, and ensured Norman that he would like it too. "Ashland Academy grows on you. I live at home, but I wish I lived in the dorm, I miss out on a lot. I'm really jealous of you, Norm. You'll have so many opportunities to do fun stuff, and all your friends are there all the time."

"Well, I don't mind being by myself... will I have a roommate?"

"Yeah, probably. There are a ton of students there now, only upper classmen have a chance at their own room. But I'm sure your roommate will be nice. And if you ever need your own space you can come stay the night at my house and sleep in the guest room."

Norman was grateful for his cousin's understanding. Coraline was the only one who never made fun of him as a child; she couldn't see anything wrong with his gift. Every once in a while when Norman was feeling ostracized, he would give Coraline a call and she would cheer him up. He was glad to have her on hand.

"So Norm, how has your gift been treating you lately?"

Norman sighed. "I don't really want to talk about it... I mean, I'm used to seeing ghosts, and it's nice to have people to talk to who understand me, but sometimes I wish I could have more than two friends who are alive. I was just starting to get the hang of things in Blithe Hollow and now I have to do it all over again."

"Well things should be easier here. Everyone's a little weird in Oregon."

Norman smiled. It would be nice having a roommate who was as weird as he was. If that was possible.

* * *

They drove up to a gate with a large sign with the words _Ashland Academy_ looming above them. "Well here we are, Norm. Your new home!"

Norman took a deep breath as they entered the school grounds. The academy was at least a hundred years old, and looked like a lame attempt at Hogwarts. Many families were helping their children move in to the dorm. Norman looked out at them, wondering which one he would have to share a room with. He suddenly felt nervous again, and all of Coraline's reassuring words came undone.

"Let me give you the grand tour." Coraline continued along the road past the packed lot where all the other parents had parked.

"That's the main academic wing. All your classes will be there. It's not too special, just a big hallway." And it was. An impossibly boring rectangle, the academic wing was a dull, grey, two story stone structure with absolutely no embellishment. It looked like a prison, Norman could have sworn he saw bars on one of the windows.

"And this is the dormitory wing..." Parents and students scurried in and out of the large brick structure. This wing was more interestingly shaped, like a swastika with more points. It looked impossible to navigate. "It was built a few years ago, but it feels like it's been here just as long as the rest of the place. And not for a good reason." They continued to drive around the perimeter of the school.

"And this is the chapel. You can't go in there, it's been closed off. When they get enough money, they're going to demolish it and build a brand new building there." The chapel was separate from the rest of the school. Norman was used to the picturesque churches of colonial Massachusetts, and this was nothing like them. It was made of slabs of stone, and looked more like a medieval castle than a church.

"And that's it... Nothing special. Let's get you into your dorm."

Norman gulped as he brought his bags to the building's entrance. Coraline was right behind him, but he had never felt more alone. He nervously got the attention of one of the staff members.

"Name."

"Um... Norman Babcock."

"Here's your key. You're in room 341."

Norman's hand shook as he held it out for the man to give him the key. He turned to Coraline, as if to plead for help. Coraline looked over at the elevator and scoffed at the line building up.

"C'mon, Norm. Let's take the elevator on the other side of the school, that way we won't have to wait so long."

Norman reluctantly followed her. Pillars lined the hallway, and between them were windows from the floor to the ceiling. Otherwise the hallway was as drab as the rest of the building. They reached the other elevator. It was dangerously creaky, and Norman felt like the elevator would break and they would plummet to the bottom of the shaft any second.

The elevator stopped at the third floor and Coraline led Norman to his room. They walked back down the hallway and through a maze of suites and hallways to room 341. Norman got out his key and unlocked the door. The room was a perfect cube with white walls, a bunk bed, two desks, two closets, and two dressers.

"Here ya go, Norm," Coraline said as she helped him drag his luggage into the room. "Do you need help unpacking your stuff?"

"Nah, I think I can handle it." Norman smiled at his cousin.

"You'll do fine. If you need anything, you've got my number. I'm only a ten minute drive away." Coraline grinned at him and tousled his hair.

"Thanks." Norman replied, and watched his cousin turn and walk over to the stairwell. He sighed and looked around the room. It looked like his roommate had already moved in; an open bag was on the floor and it looked like most of his things had been put away. Norman looked at the open door.

_Norman and Dipper._

_Dipper? My roommate's name is Dipper? What kind of name is that...?_ Norman wondered to himself as he began to unpack his things. His mind started to wander and he began to imagine what Dipper was like. At first he thought of an average looking boy who smiled and liked baseball, but soon the image morphed into a tall, muscular, scowling teenager with bad hygiene who liked to make weird kids cry. Norman snapped himself out of it when he noticed the light turn on.

"Hey, what were you doing in the dark?" a friendly voice asked.

"I dunno, I guess I just forgot to turn the light on..." Norman replied shyly as he turned to face the speaker. A boy of about 5'6" was standing in the doorway, approaching Norman with an outreached hand. "I'm Dipper, you must be Norman."

It was as if Norman's brain had slowed down. It took him a second to realize that he was supposed to shake hands with this person, and another second to realize that this was the person he was going to be spending the next year with. Norman instinctively looked down at the floor and shoved his left hand in his pocket as he stuck out his hand to shake his new roommate's. Norman expected Dipper to be disappointed that he was not the perky, happy roommate Dipper had been hoping for, but when he looked back up at Dipper, he was still grinning ear to ear. Norman smiled. Maybe having a roommate wouldn't be as bad as he thought it would be.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note: Not really sure where I'm going with this, I have an idea but I'm just writing what I think of. Sorry if the story is dragging along a little. I've never written a multi-chapter story before.

* * *

"So you just got here, eh? My sister and I got here a few hours ago." Dipper said, trying to make conversation.

"You have a sister who goes here? That's cool. My cousin goes here too. She's the one who picked me up at the airport."

"Cool! She drives? That's awesome!" Dipper exclaimed. Norman wondered if that meant Dipper wanted Coraline to drive them somewhere. He shrugged it off and continued the conversation.

"Yeah, Coraline's great. She's the sister I wish I had."

"So you're an only child?"

"No. I have a sister. But she and I don't have much in common."

"Ah, I see what you mean. You have to meet my sister. I think you'll like her. I'll warn you, she can be a bit intense, but she means well."

Norman didn't know what that meant, but he knew he had had enough excitement for one day. "Maybe I can meet her tomorrow. Right now I just want to get all my stuff put away."

"Alright. Yeah I have some unpacking to do too. So where are you from? You said you flew in."

"I'm from Massachusetts. Pilgrim town," Norman said as he began putting all of his shirts on hangers.

"Oh wow, that's far away!" Dipper exclaimed. "Why did you choose to come here?"

"Well, it wasn't really my decision. My parents wanted to get me out of public school, and well, my cousin goes here, so they figured this was the best bet." Norman looked down at the floor. That was all technically true, but it was a huge lie of omission. Norman had to be careful about what he said, he didn't want to say anything that would infer about his gift. He couldn't remember the last time he talked so much about personal stuff with someone he had just met.

"Well at least you get to be with your cousin. Did you like it in Massachusetts?"

"Kinda. I was just getting the hang of it there though, so it was kind of discouraging when I found out I had to move. Now I have to do everything all over again." Norman could tell that Dipper was the kind of guy who could adapt to any social situation. He probably wouldn't understand how difficult some things were for him.

"Don't be such a negative Nancy. I'm sure you'll make plenty of friends. You've already got me." Dipper smiled at his new friend. Norman smiled back at him, but he could feel his face turning red. He turned away and attempted to change the subject.

"So why did you and your sister come here?"

"Well our great uncle Stan lives around here, and we spend our summers at his house. Mabel and I both like it up here a lot better than back home in Los Angeles, and we decided we wanted to live up here year-round."

Dipper walked over to the door and closed it quietly. He then walked over to where Norman was standing and whispered to him, "do you want to know the real reason Mabel and I wanted to come here?"

Norman's face turned red again. He dropped the pair of jeans he was about to put away. Norman wasn't used to someone being this close to him. "...um, I guess so..." he replied nervously.

"This school is _haunted."_ Dipper whispered. The color drained from Norman's face. He sat down on the bottom bunk bed.

"H... haunted?" Norman felt sick. He couldn't believe this was happening to him all over again.

Dipper chuckled. "What's wrong, Norman? Are you afraid of ghosts?"

"No."

"What then, you don't believe in ghosts?"

"I believe in ghosts alright..." Norman turned away from his new friend. He wanted to tell Dipper about his gift, but he knew he shouldn't. He just wanted to have a normal school year, no ghost hunting involved.

"Well then what's wrong? If you believe in ghosts, don't you want to come find them with me?" Dipper nudged Norman's shoulder. Norman felt terrible.

"I just don't want to get involved with anything paranormal right now. I've had... bad experiences with that kind of stuff before. I don't really want to talk about it." Norman climbed up to the top bunk. Dipper stepped into the middle of the room to look up at his new friend.

"Okay, well I won't make you come with me. But Mabel and I are really excited about solving this mystery, and maybe if we do, the spirits will move on and the school will be back to normal."

Norman had had enough negotiating with angry spirits for one lifetime.

"Can we just talk about something else?" Norman asked.

"Sure, Norman. You can come down now."

Norman reluctantly climbed back down and sat in his desk chair across from Dipper, who sat on his bed.

"What kind of stuff do you like to do, Norman?" Dipper inquired.

"I'm kind of a horror movie buff. I really like the cheesy, low-budget ones."

"Cool, I saw one of those once. It was fun, maybe we could watch one sometime."

Norman introduced Dipper to his B-movie horror collection. Dipper was very impressed, and they made plans to watch one in the next few days. They couldn't wait that long, though, and ended up watching the movie that night. The movie finished at midnight, but the two boys stayed up for hours talking. Dipper told Norman about all of his adventures with Mabel at Gravity Falls. When he was finished, Norman wanted to tell Dipper about the Witch's Curse, but Dipper just kept talking. Once it was three am, Dipper announced that he was going to sleep.

"I'll tell Dipper my story someday..." Norman said to himself as he drifted off to sleep.

That was the first good night's sleep Norman had gotten in a long time. A combination of stress, nightmares, and ghosts always kept Norman awake, and he finally accepted the fact that he was an insomniac. But even though Norman was anxious about the new year, Dipper's presence made him feel better.

The next morning, he awoke to his 6:30 alarm. Class started at 7:30, and Norman wanted to get breakfast beforehand. Dipper wasn't phased by the alarm and continued to sleep. Norman took a quick shower and got dressed. At 7:00, as Norman was about to leave for breakfast, he nudged Dipper awake.

"Wha..." Dipper opened his eyes groggily.

"Rise and shine. Class starts in half an hour."

Dipper slowly got himself out of bed, and although Norman wanted to make sure his friend got to class on time, he was _really_ hungry and needed to get to the dining hall.

The dining hall was practically empty. He grabbed a bowl of colorful, sugary cereal and an apple and sat down by a large window. He looked out at the parking lot while he ate his cereal. A lone ghost passed through the dining hall as Norman ate. Norman figured all the other students were like Dipper; they couldn't drag themselves out of bed to eat before class.

Norman finished his meal with ten minutes to go before class. He walked back to the room to check up on Dipper and make sure he didn't fall back asleep. Norman navigated his way through the maze of hallways to their room and knocked on the door.

"Is that you, Norman? Come in," Norman heard from inside.

He entered the room to see Dipper in his underwear, stepping into his jeans. Norman's face turned bright red, and he swiftly stepped back out into the hallway and closed the door behind him.

Dipper put his pants on and opened the door. "Dude, what's wrong? You've never seen a guy in his tighty-whities before?"

Norman sighed. "I'm just a little shy I guess. I know we live together now, but I think it's a little awkward to see you when you're... not decent."

"Okay then. I'll warn you when I'm getting dressed so you can look the other way. How's that?"

"Alright." Norman felt better. "I'll get used to it soon. I've just never been in this kind of arrangement before..."

Dipper smiled. "I've shared a room with Mabel for the last fourteen years. Do you know how happy I am to no longer have to change in the bathroom?"

Norman laughed at how ironic that was. Earlier that morning, even though his roommate had been asleep, Norman was still shy about getting dressed in front of him, and opted to change in the bathroom.

"Okay, well we'd better get to class." Norman grabbed his bag and the two boys headed over to the academic wing.

Finally, it was lunch hour. After four hours of sitting through teachers going through syllabi, Norman was exhausted, and he hadn't even done anything. He grabbed a grilled cheese sandwich and some milk and met Dipper and a perky girl with long, bushy brown hair.

"Hey Norman! This is my sister, Mabel."

Her eyes twinkled when she saw Norman, and stuck out her hand to greet him.

"Hi Norman! Dipper told me all about you!" Mabel grinned at Norman to the point where he felt a little uncomfortable.

"Oh, really?" Norman struggled to reply.

"Yeah! But he didn't ask you what your favorite color was. What is it, Norman?"

"Red."

"I knew it!" Mabel proclaimed. The three of them had a very enjoyable first lunch together. Although Dipper was a lot like his twin, Norman was glad he wasn't as high-strung. He didn't think he could handle living with someone like Mabel.

Norman looked up and saw Coraline walking by.

"Coraline! Over here!" Norman waved at his cousin.

"Hey, Norm! How's your first day going?"

"Alright." Norman shrugged. "This is my roommate, Dipper, and his sister, Mabel."

"I'm Coraline. Not Caroline, Coraline." Just then, the bell rang. "Hey Norm, I'll stop by your room after class today so we can catch up. See you later." Coraline disappeared into the crowd of students scurrying back to class.

"Well, I guess I'll see you guys later." Norman gathered his books and went to his next class.

"Hey Norman, I'm gonna be in Mabel's room after class today. Stop by, she's in room 272."

After class was over, Norman headed to Mabel's room. He sent Coraline a text message, _I'll be at my room in a few. _He only intended to stop by Mabel's room for a few minutes.

It took Norman longer than expected to find room 272. He knocked on the door, which read _Mabel and Caroline._

"That will be confusing," Norman said to himself.

Mabel opened the door, and her face lit up when she saw Norman.

"Hey! Welcome to my room!" Mabel's room had two separate beds, so the room was divided evenly in half. Mabel's half of the room was decorated with pink unicorn posters, dolphin posters, and photos of Mabel with a very fat pig. The other half was not decorated at all. A girl, who Norman assumed was Caroline, sat on the other bed reading, facing the wall with her back towards Mabel and Dipper, who were sitting on Mabel's bed. They had newspaper articles and printouts from websites spread out all over the floor.

"What are you guys doing?" Norman was intrigued by all of the papers.

"We're investigating!" Mabel said excitedly.

"Investigating... what?" Norman had a feeling he didn't want to know.

"A _murder!_" Mabel whispered, peering over at her roommate suspiciously.

"_You think she..._" Norman whispered to Mabel. Caroline didn't kill anyone, did she?

"No, silly!" Mabel pushed Norman's arm.

"This all happened a long time ago." Dipper stepped into the conversation.

"Oh... this is the ghost stuff." Norman looked discouraged. He was about to excuse himself when Dipper began to explain.

"You see, fifty years ago, this was St. Aloysius Catholic School. In 1946, a girl, a 16 year old student here, disappeared. Two years later, three more students disappeared. Nobody found the bodies, and nobody knows why they vanished. The school had been doing well financially up until this happened, but when parents heard about the missing students, they stopped sending their kids here. Soon the priest who ran the place didn't have enough money or attendance to keep it going, so he had to close it down. While the property was abandoned, a lot of teenagers would come here at night to vandalize the place and hang out. In 1995, a group of teenagers decided to explore the church on the anniversary of the day the girl went missing. They went up the stairs to the priest's old office. One teenager, Jack Hutcherson, stepped into the room, and everyone's flashlights flickered out, and he was gone. No one ever saw him again. This place is haunted."

Norman stood paralyzed. His heart was racing, and he could feel his hands clamming up. He really didn't want to get involved with this.

"Well, I've had enough for today... I'm going to go over to see Coraline. I'll see you later, Dipper. Nice seeing you, Mabel." He turned on his heel and walked straight out the door.

He was visibly upset when he met Coraline outside his room.

"Woah, what's the matter?" Coraline put her hand on her cousin's shoulder.

"Apparently this school is haunted. And my two new friends are ghost hunters. And I can't deal with any evil ghost stuff right now." Norman sat in the middle of the room and buried his face in his knees, hugging them tightly to his chest.

"Norman, that's just a silly urban legend. You really believe that?" Coraline put her hands on Norman's shoulders, trying to comfort him.

"After all the stuff I've seen, I'd believe it." Norman replied hopelessly.

"We need to get your mind off of this. And we need to get you out of this school. Do you want to spend the night at my house?" Coraline offered.

"That would be nice. Are you sure it's okay?" Norman didn't want to impose on his aunt and uncle, he barely knew them. Whenever they would visit he spent all his time with Coraline.

"It's fine. My mom promised your mom that you could come over whenever you needed to get away."

The two walked out to the parking lot. A tall, lanky guy with terrible posture was standing next to Coraline's car.

"Norman, this is Wybie. He lives next door to me, so I give him rides."

"Hi Norman. Coraline told me about you. How do you like Ashland?" Wybie seemed nice, but a little strange.

"I like it so far, except for the whole haunted thing."

"Let's talk about something else, okay Norm?" Coraline wanted to keep Norman's mind off of that. "So Norm, how did things go today? What teachers do you have?" Coraline seemed excited to know how Norman liked Ashland Academy. He was happy she wasn't just making small talk.

"Well I have english with Mr. Epifanio, math with Mr. I., science with Mr. Lynch..." Norman described his experiences to his cousin and Wybie. The two of them had had many of his teachers, and they shared stories about all of the weird things they did during class. They soon arrived at the Pink Palace and got out of the car.

"If you look above Mrs. Wolfe's desk, there's a picture on the wall of her with President Bush." Coraline could barely keep from laughing.

"No way! Is it a serious photo? Or was she giving him bunny ears or something?"

"It's totally serious!" Coraline and Norman burst out into laughter.

"Okay, I need to see that..." Norman smiled at his cousin. He was glad she didn't tell this story while she had been driving. He was happy he decided to leave the school and spend some time with Coraline.


	3. Chapter 3

Norman had such a great time with Coraline that he didn't notice the time pass.

He and Coraline were in the middle of a video game when Norman's phone buzzed. Upon checking the message he realized it was already 7:30. He couldn't believe it.

"Time out, I got a text." Norman said as he paused the game.

The message was from Dipper. _Where are you? I thought we decided to eat dinner at 7._

Norman had completely forgotten. He had spent the whole afternoon trying to forget about the haunted school and Dipper. Everything came rushing back to him when he read the text, and he felt a chill down his spine. He was still so angry at Dipper for involving him in the ghost hunt that he didn't even want to respond to his text message. Norman put his phone on silent and returned it to his pocket.

"Okay, we can start the game again." Norman had requested a game without any paranormal elements, so they were playing Wii Sports.

"Better just quit now, Norm. There is no way I'm letting you win." Coraline was only three points away from winning the third tennis match in a row. "I'll be a gracious host and let you choose the next game we play."

Norman concentrated with all his might on hitting the ball back over the net, but ended up missing it all together. "You win, Coraline. Now let's play bowling."

After eating dinner and beating Coraline at Wii bowling a few times, Norman told his cousin he was going to bed. She led him to the guest room.

Coraline was about to shut the door behind her when she poked her head back into Norman's room. "Hey Norm, did you tell your roommate you're staying here tonight? He's probably worried about you."

Norman had forgotten about Dipper since he got that text message a few hours ago. "No, I didn't. But I'll do that now. Good night, Coraline."

"Good night, Norm," she said as she closed his door.

Norman got his phone out of his pocket and unlocked it. He had 5 new messages and a voicemail from Dipper.

_Hey, why didn't you answer my text?_

_Where are you? It's getting late._

_Seriously, I haven't heard from you all day._

_Norman?_

_Norman it's really dark out, where are you?_

_Norman I'm getting really worried about you. I'm sorry I said all that stuff about the school being haunted. I won't drag you into it anymore, just answer me so I can stop giving myself a heart attack._

Norman felt terrible. He called Dipper right away, and he could feel his stomach sink deeper and deeper with each ring.

"Norman?"

"Hi Dipper..."

"Oh thank God. I was starting to think you got kidnapped or something."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you where I was. I'm at Coraline's house. I'm going to stay the night. I just got so flustered and angry when you told me the story about the ghosts and I needed some time away from everything. I should have told you."

"No, Norman. It's not your fault. I shouldn't have told you about the ghosts, I didn't realize how much it would upset you. I'm sorry."

"It's alright. Just keep all that stuff in Mabel's room, okay?" Norman was relieved that Dipper understood, and that he wasn't mad at him for leaving without telling him. If Dipper had disappeared on him, Norman didn't think he would be as forgiving as Dipper was about it.

"No problemo. So are we cool?"

Norman smiled. "Yeah, we're cool. I'll see you tomorrow at lunch."

"Okay, Norman. Good night."

"Night." Norman held the phone to his ear until he heard the dial tone. He smiled. He still felt bad for making Dipper so nervous, but it made him happy that Dipper cared so much about him. It gave him a warm, fuzzy feeling. Norman's mother was probably the only other person who would get so worked up if they hadn't heard from Norman in such a long time. Well, Courtney would, but that's only because she wouldn't want to get in trouble for being irresponsible if their parents found out she had lost him.

Even by the time Norman finished getting ready for bed, the warm fuzzy feeling still hadn't gone away. Norman didn't have any trouble falling asleep.

* * *

After a long day of classes, Norman unlocked the door to his room. He opened the door and saw Dipper sitting at his desk. Dipper looked over at Norman and smiled.

"Hey, Norman! Let's go ghost hunting!" Dipper approached Norman with a big smile on his face.

Norman could feel a knot forming in his stomach. He tried to speak but Dipper cut him off.

"I know you said you didn't want to, but trust me. Ghost hunting is so exciting, and you have to do things that are out of your comfort zone if you want to have any real fun."

Norman couldn't believe it. He was so angry at Dipper he couldn't stand it. "You told me you weren't going to drag me into this..."

Dipper laughed. "People say things all the time, Norman. Come on, it'll be fun."

Dipper grabbed Norman by the wrist and pulled him towards the middle of the room. Norman felt sick. He couldn't believe this was happening to him. As much as he liked Dipper, he needed a different roommate.

Norman couldn't think clearly. He did the only thing he could think of. He slapped Dipper so hard his hand hurt. The lights flickered out. A ghost crawled out of Dipper's mouth. The ghost wasn't like the ones he normally saw, it was a monster with fangs and sharp claws.

Norman tripped over himself and fell back onto the floor. The floor began to dissolve from beneath him. The closet swung open, and there was the real Dipper, tied up with tape over his mouth. Norman tried to crawl over to Dipper, but he fell into the abyss that had appeared on their floor.

Norman woke up, terrified, in the guest bedroom. He was covered in sweat, and he was shivering like crazy. He was used to getting nightmares like these, he usually got one once or twice a week. He went to the bathroom to wash his face, then returned to his bed. He hugged his pillow and tried his best to go to sleep.

He awoke to his alarm clock the next morning. He had just fallen asleep a few hours ago, and he was still exhausted. He pulled himself out of bed and got ready to go to school.

Norman didn't really feel like talking during breakfast or on the way to school. When Coraline asked him what was wrong, he just told her that he hadn't gotten much sleep.

When they arrived at the school, Norman thanked his cousin for inviting him to stay the night.

"I really needed it. Thanks so much."

"Anything for my little cousin." Coraline smiled as she parked her car. The two of them walked in together and went their separate ways to their classes.

During class, Norman often zoned out and doodled in his notebook. Usually he drew zombies, ghosts, witches, and other spooky stuff, but today he really didn't feel like drawing any of that. Today he drew self-portraits, attempted to draw a few animals, and found himself drawing a picture of Dipper. He blushed when he realized what he had drawn, and added Mabel in next to him so it wouldn't seem weird.

At lunchtime, Norman met Dipper and Mabel in line for food. Mabel gasped when she saw him and flung her arms around him.

"NORMAN! We were so worried about you! I'm so glad you're back!" She then switched gears completely. She pulled away from Norman, crossed her arms and turned to face away from him. She said in an angry and disappointed voice, "But I can't believe you left without telling us. You had us worried sick."

Norman looked down at the floor and scratched the back of his head. "I'm sorry Mabel, I won't do it again. I promise."

Mabel turned back around and stuck her head out to inspect Norman. "So you will tell us where you are at all times from now on?"

Norman sighed. "Yes, I will."

A smile crept back on to Mabel's face. She hugged him again. Norman laughed. When she let go, Dipper stepped over to him. He smiled at his roommate.

"It's good to see you."

"It's been less than a day..." Norman shoved his hands in his pockets. He looked down to see Dipper's hand reaching out for a handshake.

Norman reluctantly removed his hand from his pocket and clasped Dipper's hand. Dipper then pulled him in and swung his left arm around Norman to pat him on the back. Norman didn't really know what was going on. He patted Dipper on the back in response.

Dipper said as he pulled away from Norman. "Okay, let's eat."

Their lunch was pretty uneventful, but Norman had fun hanging out with his two new friends. Mabel was really the driving force in their conversation, so when she left the table to get dessert, Dipper and Norman had a bit of an awkward silence. Norman realized that the first night, when they stayed up until 3 talking, they may have run out of things to say to each other. Norman wasn't much of a conversationalist, so he began to worry that he would only be able to talk to Dipper when Mabel was around. Luckily, Dipper started things back up.

"So, you had fun at Coraline's last night?"

"Yeah, we played some video games and stuff. And she took me around Ashland and showed me where all the shops are and everything."

"That's cool. I haven't really been around town. I want to go sometime, though. Maybe we could go on the weekend or something."

"Yeah, I mean if you want I could ask Coraline to drive us. It's not really that far of a walk but it's always nice to have a chauffeur."

"That'd be great. So what kinds of video games do you play? You said you played some at your cousin's place..."

"Well last night we played Wii sports. I usually play zombie slasher games, but I wasn't really in the mood for anything paranormal last night. At first I wasn't comfortable with Wii sports because the people are just like, floating torsos, but I got over it."

Norman tried to say it jokingly so Dipper wouldn't feel like he had to apologize again about upsetting him. Luckily, it worked. Dipper laughed and told him he was going to get more soda and left the table.

Norman had a millisecond of peace before Mabel reappeared at the table.

"So Norman, how do you like Dipper?"

"Uh, he's okay I guess..." Norman looked down at his plate and nervously took a drink of his soda.

"Because you're his roommate, so you have a lot of opportunities to do harmful things to my brother. Putting itching powder in his clothes, putting dye in his shampoo, suffocating him in his sleep..."

"Mabel, I'm not going to hurt Dipper, okay? Promise."

"I swear, Norman. If you ever do anything to hurt him," she said as she picked up her fork and held it up as if she were preparing to stab him with it. "I will find you and _kill you._" Then she brought the fork down into her slice of cake, picked it back up and shoveled the piece into her mouth.

It was difficult to take Mabel seriously sometimes, but Norman knew how much she cared about her brother. Dipper had told him that the two of them had always been inseparable, but now that Dipper had "guy problems" and Mabel had "girl problems," it was getting harder and harder for them to understand each other and have the same close relationship. Mabel didn't want to admit that, though, and she tried her best to maintain the friendship the two of them had always had. Even if it meant threatening Dipper's new friends.

Dipper returned to the table and smiled at his sister and his new roommate.

"I brought you back something, Norman. You said you liked black and white cookies? I snagged the last one."

Norman smiled shyly as he accepted the cookie. He had two new friends. He thought to himself, _the school may be haunted, but maybe this won't be so bad after all._


	4. Chapter 4

After classes were over and Norman had made his way up to the dorm room, he paused before unlocking the door to make sure he wasn't dreaming. He pinched himself on the arm and decided that it was safe to go inside. He was relieved when the room was empty, the last thing he wanted was to relive last night's nightmare. He put his bag down and opened his laptop to check his e-mail. A few minutes later he got a text message from Dipper.

_At Mabel's doing ghost hunt prep. I'll be back at the dorm in an hour._

Norman figured this was a good time to get homework done. He saw it as a blessing because he knew he wouldn't get much done if Dipper were here. He sent his roommate a reply.

_Okay. See you then._

Norman returned the phone to his pocket. A few seconds later it vibrated. Norman felt his heart rate pick up a little, and he felt warm when he saw it was Dipper.

_:)_

Norman put his head down on the table. He mumbled to himself, "Really Norman? Not even a week in to boarding school and you already have a crush on your roommate..."

For the next half hour he tried his best to concentrate on the novel he was reading for English, but his mind kept wandering to Dipper. He imagined Dipper playing all of the characters in the novel. It actually made it much more enjoyable, since he was reading Jane Eyre. After a while, he couldn't take the book seriously anymore, and he got all of the characters confused because they all looked the same. He put the book down and got out his laptop. Norman sighed. He had had crushes before, but they were all from afar. He had never actually had a crush on someone that he had to talk to every day, much less share a room with. Norman had no idea what he was going to do.

About fourty-five minutes later, Dipper returned to the room. Norman had fallen asleep at his desk a while back. He opened his eyes when he heard Dipper open the door.

"Hey, Norman. How's it goin'?" asked Dipper as he put down his things and sat down at his desk.

"Okay, I guess. I didn't really get much sleep last night, I just passed out at my desk."

"That sucks. Oh... is it because of the... ghost thing?"

"Yeah, I guess. I had a pretty bad nightmare last night, so it was hard to sleep after that."

Dipper didn't say anything after that. He looked really concerned, but Norman knew he just didn't know what to say.

"I get nightmares a lot. It's really no big deal. I've learned how to cope with them." Norman tried to let Dipper know that it wasn't his fault he had that nightmare. Well, it kind of was Dipper's fault, but he could have gotten any nightmare last night.

"Well that still sucks." Dipper seemed to be really affected by it.

After sitting in silence for a few seconds, Norman made a desperate attempt to change the subject.

"So Dipper, I don't want to get in to the details of your ghost hunt, but why are you always doing so much prep work for it?"

Norman saw the twinkle in Dipper's eye when he heard that. He could tell his roommate was eager to talk about this passion of his.

"Well, Mabel and I have never tackled something this big before. This is the only time we've ever read about a paranormal occurrence and made a trip out somewhere just to see what was going on. So we are taking the time to plan out every step, so that when we actually go into the forest and up to the priest's office we know what we're doing."

Norman saw where Dipper was coming from. If he had done his research the night of the witch's curse, he would have known not to read the book at the graves of the victims. It seemed a bit anal but Dipper seemed to know what he was doing.

"Yeah, there was this one time, like 3 years ago, in my town..."

Norman paused. He realized he wasn't really ready to tell Dipper about what happened on the night of the witch's curse, because Dipper would only want to drag him into the ghost hunt. _Especially _if he knew about Norman's gift. He had to find his way out of this, mid-sentence.

"...umm..." Norman glanced at Dipper nervously. "This one time my friends and I went to an abandoned amusement park, but we didn't know this one ride was still hooked up, and my friend hit the lever by accident and the ride lit up and started moving and everything. It was so scary, I wish we had known that was there beforehand."

Norman had pulled that story completely out of his ass. He hoped it was somewhat believable.

"Woah, that's so cool! You did that when you were eleven? That's insane. I was way too scared to do stuff like that when I was that age."

_Sweet. Now Dipper thinks I'm cool,_ Norman thought as he blushed a bit. _Ugh. Come on, Norman. Get it together._

After conversing for another half hour, they decided that they really should get some work done. Norman went back to Jane Eyre but with zero luck. His mind kept wandering to Dipper, who was sitting not three feet away from him. Then a dangerous question entered his mind... did Dipper even like guys? Norman was terrified to know the answer. He didn't want Dipper to be straight, because that would break his heart. But Norman didn't want Dipper to like guys either, because if he did, Norman would be too afraid to ask Dipper out on a date, and he would definitely be too afraid to say yes to a date if Dipper ever asked him. Norman was so caught up worrying about all of these hypotheticals, he couldn't even think anymore.

"I'm going for a walk to clear my head," Norman announced as he got out of his chair and walked over to the door.

"You're not going to go spending the night somewhere else and not text me, right?" Dipper asked playfully.

"No... I'll be back before dinner."

"Dinner tonight, or tomorrow night?" Dipper grinned at his friend.

Norman balled up a piece of paper and threw it at him.

"See you soon." Norman said as he left the room and closed the door behind him.

Norman wandered through the halls of the school, trying to let go of the thoughts that were rattling around in his head. They weren't going anywhere, so he decided to take desperate measures: he texted his sister.

_She has a lot of experience with crushes. And she knows how to not act like an idiot in front of them. She'll know what to do._

He texted, _Hey Courtney, I have a bit of a problem._

Within 10 seconds she replied, _You only text me when you have problems. Thanks norm. What's up?_

Norman hadn't really told his family that he liked guys, so he decided to tell a little white lie.

_I have a crush on my roommate's sister and I have to see her all the time. She is always visiting. What do I do? I keep blushing whenever she talks to me._

And as expected, Courtney texted him back promptly. _Roommate's _sister? _Really norm? _

Norman was incredibly embarrassed and went into defense mode. _What do you mean, really? I can't like someone's sister?_

_Come on, Norm. We all know you're playing for the other team. I know you have no interest in girls. Now spill, who do you really like? It's not your roommate is it?_

Norman didn't have any choice. He sent the text message that would forever set his feelings for his roommate in stone.

_Yes._

Norman prepared himself for her response. And seconds later, he got one.

_O. M. G. Norman! You have a crush on your roommate? Did you even meet anyone else besides him?_

_I met his sister..._ he answered feebly.

_That's not the point. What do I do? _Now he was really worked up. If she didn't give him any advice, he told her for nothing.

_If he likes guys, just be yourself, and if he doesn't seem to like you, he's an ass. If he doesn't like guys, it wasn't meant to be. Try to focus on all his bad qualities. You live with him, so you'll get to see every one of them._

Norman felt a little better after reading that. But there was one scenario she didn't cover.

_What if he likes me?_

_You've got to figure that one out on your own, kid. There's nothing you can do to prepare you for it._

Norman's heart sank. He knew his sister had all the answers, but she wanted him to do things the Norman way instead of the Courtney way. He sighed and began the walk back to his dorm room.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's note: The reason I have been cranking these chapters out lately is because I am studying abroad, and although there is a lot to do in the day, at night I don't have anything to do because my internet connection isn't good enough to stream videos. I am trying to write as much of the story as I can before my classes start to pick up and I won't have time anymore, so if the time between updates increases that's why. I'm really excited about this story though, and I am really eager to finish it!

* * *

The next few weeks were pretty uneventful. School was picking up, so Norman, Dipper and Mabel had less free time every day. Dipper was getting excited about the ghost hunt; he had told Norman that they were going to start investigating soon. Although Norman knew that Dipper wanted to spend time with Mabel planning out their investigation, Dipper began coming back to their dorm earlier and earlier, some days not going to Mabel's at all. Norman hoped it was because Dipper liked spending time with him but Norman was trying not to get his hopes up. They would often distract each other from homework and watch B-movies, read comic books, or just talk. Norman stopped having nightmares quite so often. Every night he would fall asleep faster than the night before, and he didn't wake up in the middle of the night so much anymore. Norman was happy for the first time in a while. And he wasn't just happy when he was around Dipper, he was happy during class and when Dipper was at Mabel's. He liked Dipper more and more every day, and Dipper seemed to feel the same way. At least Norman hoped so.

* * *

"C'mon, Norman. We told Mabel we would be at her room in..." he checked his watch, "five minutes ago." Dipper waited by the door for his roommate to finish in the bathroom.

"Sorry, I'm just changing my shirt. It's lasagna night and I don't want to ruin my favorite t-shirt." Norman was still uncomfortable changing in front of Dipper. Especially because of the feelings he had for his friend, he felt really awkward about it. Dipper had grown used to it, though, and he didn't think it was all that weird.

"Okay, I'm ready." Norman rushed out of the bathroom and the two boys ran down the stairs to Mabel's room.

Dipper knocked on the door. "Mabel? You ready to go to dinner?"

"One second!" Mabel yelled, and answered the door shortly. "I was just putting away all the ghost hunt stuff so Norman doesn't see any of it by accident."

Norman smiled. He was happy that Dipper and Mabel were so sensitive about his discomfort with their investigation. Sometimes they did do a little overkill, though.

The three of them headed over to the dining hall. They put their things down at their usual table and went to get food.

While waiting in line for lasagna, Norman decided to text Coraline. He hadn't talked to her in a while. He hadn't really needed to. But he did want to see her so he could tell her about Dipper. So far Courtney was the only one that knew.

Norman made plans with Coraline to get ice cream after school the next day. He grabbed a plate of lasagna and went back to the table to find Dipper talking to Mabel.

"So Norman was telling me about this festival they have in Japan where all these artists make huge ice sculptures, like they make palaces and stuff. It's so cool. Maybe tomorrow I'll show you some pictures online."

"Couldn't you show me tonight? I thought you were coming over tonight to plan ghost hunt stuff," Mabel said as she shoveled bites of chicken into her mouth.

"Well, Norman and I made plans to watch _Cursed Bodies_ tonight. I was thinking we could do ghost hunt stuff tomorrow." Dipper looked like he felt guilty for bailing on his sister.

"Dipper! We haven't done ghost hunt stuff in like a week! Every time I ask you about it you're like, '_oooh, I have too much homework,' _or '_oooh, I was gonna watch something with Norman.'_ I can't believe you don't have time for your own sister!" Mabel stood up and announced, "I'm going to go get dessert," and stormed off.

Norman and Dipper sat in silence for a few seconds.

"Maybe you should go to Mabel's tonight..." Norman offered quietly. He hadn't realized it but whenever he was having fun with Dipper in their room, Mabel was lonely in hers. "And maybe we could all do stuff together more often. Maybe she could watch _Cursed Bodies _with us."

Dipper sighed. "Yeah, I guess. I was just really enjoying having a guy friend for once. But Mabel's my sister. She'll always be my best friend."

Norman smiled. _Dipper does like spending time with me._

Mabel returned with her dessert. Dipper got up and gave her a hug. "I'm sorry if I've been neglecting you lately. I didn't know how much spending time together meant to you. I'll come over after dinner and we can do whatever you want. You can even give me a makeover if you want."

Mabel's eyes widened. "Do you really mean it? You can't take it back later!"

"I mean it." Dipper laughed.

Norman wasn't sure what Dipper had just gotten himself into, but he was eager to see the result.

Mabel sat down and wolfed down her piece of pie in about 20 seconds.

"Done! Dinner's over! Let's go!" She took Dipper's arm and dragged him towards the exit.

"Bye Norman! I'll see you later! I hope you recognize me!" Dipper yelled to his friend as Mabel led him out of the cafeteria.

Norman laughed to himself as he got his things together and began to walk back to his room.

After about an hour of doing homework, Norman got a text from Mabel.

_Come to my room to see my masterpiece!_

Norman smiled. He couldn't wait to see how ridiculous Dipper must look. With a skip in his step, he hopped down the stairs and walked down the hall towards Mabel's room and knocked on the door.

He heard Mabel say from inside, "Dipper, he's here! Wait I have to fix your hair! One second, Norman!"

Norman waited patiently for a minute until he heard Mabel make a drumroll by patting her hands against the wall. "Innnntroducing..." The door opened and Norman was face to face with Dipper, who was buried under piles of makeup. "_Dippina._"

Dipper was wearing one of Mabel's dresses, so it was practically ripping at the seams. The dress was purple with little white flowers. His face was covered in blush, lipstick, mascara, and eyeliner, and his hair was littered with brightly colored bows and clips. Around his neck was a feather boa, and over his shoulder a tiny purse. And to top it off, two pairs of rolled up socks were stuffed in his shirt. Dipper looked very uncomfortable, and Norman's presence didn't seem to make it any better.

Norman tried to keep himself from laughing. He knew Dipper wouldn't appreciate it if he did, but seriously, what else was he supposed to do?

After a few seconds he couldn't hold it in any longer. He burst out in laughter. He laughed so hard he almost started crying. After he composed himself, Mabel got out her camera.

"Come on, Dipper, put on a runway show for us! Strike a pose!"

Dipper crossed his arms and mumbled what Norman figured was a "no."

Mabel snapped a photo of her disgruntled brother. "Dipper, if you don't pose for me, I won't forgive you for neglecting me."

Dipper sighed. "...Fine... what do you want me to do? But just three poses. That's it."

Mabel squealed. "Okay, first, go like this." She put one hand on her hip and her index finger on her chin. Dipper imitated her, badly. "No, like this..." Mabel adjusted her brother's pose. "Make it more sassy. There we go!" She snapped a photo.

"Okay, what pose next... Oh!" She laid down on her stomach, locked her fingers together, rested her elbows on the floor and her chin on her fingers. Dipper laid down and did the same.

"Just smile for me... Perfect!" Mabel smiled and took the photo. "This one really shows off my impeccable makeup artistry."

Dipper got up off of the floor. "Okay Mabel. One more photo."

Mabel stroked her chin. "We've gotta make this one count... Norman, what should he do?" She looked over at Norman and gasped. "Norman, get in the picture! Pretend you're dancing with Dipper!"

Norman's face went red. "Uhh... no, I don't really want to..."

"Aww, come on Norman. It'll be fun," Mabel persuaded.

"No, I think I'll pass." Norman looked away from Mabel and Dipper and crossed his arms. He was still incredibly red.

"If Norman doesn't want to, he doesn't have to." Dipper chimed in. "Here, I've got a pose for you." Dipper turned around, away from Mabel, bent his knees and stuck his but out towards Mabel and Norman. He turned his head to look at the camera, put one hand on his knees, and one on his cheek. He made a surprised face.

Norman's face went red again. He quickly started laughing and put his hand to his face to cover it up.

Mabel gasped. "That's perfect Dipper!" She took two photos for good measure.

"Okay, fun's over. Can I take all this stuff off now?" Dipper quickly stood up, and his face turned red after realizing what he had just volunteered to do. "Also, these photos stay between the three of us. No one else." Norman and Mabel agreed.

Dipper disappeared into the bathroom to change back into his clothes and scrub the makeup off his face.

Mabel excitedly plugged the camera into her computer. She suggested to Norman, "If you give me your email I can send you the photos!"

Norman stood awkwardly in the middle of Mabel's room. He hadn't noticed, but Caroline was sitting at her desk doing homework. Caroline had long, dark hair and brown eyes. She looked a little like Aggie. She was wearing the school uniform, a white collared shirt with a grey vest and a grey skirt. The uniform was no longer mandatory, and Norman didn't know why anyone would wear it voluntarily.

Norman turned back to Mabel, who was still at her computer. "Here are the photos, Norman! Aren't they cute?"

Norman smiled. They were cute. But he wasn't going to admit that.

"What's your e-mail address?"

"zombomb12 at gmail."

"Sent! Now you can print out as many copies as you want! I think I'm gonna make a picture frame for it!" Mabel eagerly ran over to her bed and pulled out a box full of craft supplies from underneath. Just then, Dipper came back into the room.

"Okay, it's getting late. You ready to go back to the room, Norman?"

"Yeah," Norman replied. The two of them said goodbye to Mabel and walked out of her room.

"Hey Dipper, you've still got some makeup on your cheeks," Norman pointed out.

"Yeah, I know. Mabel really caked it on. I'm gonna shower when we get back."

"I still can't believe you did that last pose without Mabel telling you to..." Norman blushed a little just remembering it.

"I dunno, I started to have fun with it. Don't tell Mabel though, or else she'll make me do it more often."

Norman laughed. He would enjoy seeing Dipper made over again, but he wanted to keep the secret for Dipper.

They returned to their room and Dipper got in the shower. Norman fiddled around on his laptop until Dipper got out. Dipper took an unusually long shower because of all of the makeup.

When Dipper got out of the shower and came back in the room, Norman showed him his laptop.

"Hey Dipper, look at my new wallpaper." It was the photo of Dipper's first pose. Norman was going to choose the third pose but the thought that would seem creepy.

Dipper looked at the photo and laughed sarcastically. "That is so funny. You'd better change the background whenever someone else is gonna be looking at your laptop."

"Don't worry, Dipper." Norman smiled. He was glad that they were so comfortable with each other.

Dipper lay down on his bed and got out a comic book. Norman sighed. He had been thinking about telling Dipper about the witch's curse for a few days, and he knew he could trust Dipper not to drag him into anything he wasn't ready for. He decided now was the time to tell him.

"Hey Dipper, did I ever tell you about the witch's curse?" Norman asked causally.

Dipper perked up and sat up to face Norman. He put the comic book down on his bedside table. "No... what's the witch's curse?"

"Well, it's kind of a long story..." Norman recounted to Dipper the events of that night, being careful to leave out the parts about him talking to ghosts. He told Dipper that Aggie was one of those ghosts that everyone could see and talk to, like the convenience store ghosts that Dipper saw. Dipper listened intently to the story and barely said a word throughout.

"And so then the seven victims and Aggie disappeared, and the curse was lifted.

Dipper was in shock and awe. "Aw, man, Norman, that was a great story! That really happened to you?"

Norman nodded.

"Wow. I see what you meant about having a bad experience with paranormal stuff. That sounds really scary. Especially for an eleven year old. That's even scarier than the amusement park story!"

Norman looked down at the floor. "Uh, that story wasn't true. I was about to tell you the witch's curse story but I chickened out and I made something up instead. I'm sorry I lied to you."

"It's okay, Norman. I understand why you did. It must take a lot of guts to tell it."

"Yeah, I guess..." He was glad he told Dipper. It was good to get that off his chest.

It was already midnight, and Norman and Dipper decided to go to sleep. Norman went right to sleep and slept the whole night.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's note: Just so you know, Saint Aloysius is pronounced Allo-wish-us.

* * *

The next morning, Norman's alarm went off and he groggily got out of bed. For the first time, Dipper actually woke up when Norman's alarm went off. Norman couldn't believe his eyes.

"Am I dreaming? Are you actually getting up more than fifteen minutes before class starts?" Norman asked his roommate jokingly.

"Yeah, yeah... very funny. I just want to take another shower so I can be sure to get all this makeup off." Dipper stumbled over to the bathroom and got in the shower.

Norman laughed as he began to get ready for class. He figured it would be nice to eat breakfast with Dipper, as that was something he had never done before. Once he was done getting dressed, he went on his laptop waiting for Dipper to get out of the shower.

About ten minutes later Dipper came back in the room. He was only wearing a towel, and Norman tried not to blush. Norman turned back to his laptop and tried not to look away until Dipper told him he was done changing.

"Okay, Norman, you can look now."

Norman turned to his roommate. "You ready to go to breakfast? It's this meal that you eat in the _morning! _Sounds weird, right?"

Norman put on his shoes and put his notebooks in his backpack. He turned back to Dipper, who was pacing in a circle and looked very conflicted.

"Dipper, you okay?" Norman approached Dipper. He had never seen him act this way before.

"Look, Norman. I have something to say to you, and I've been trying to figure out the best way to do it, but you know, I'm just going to say it. Okay. Norman... I like you. Ugh, that was so terrible. I had something all planned out, but I was up late last night thinking about it and rethinking it and it was just getting too complicated... I can't believe I just told you. I should have gone with my original plan, it was so-"

Norman reached out to touch Dipper's hand. Dipper went silent and looked at him. Norman blushed and replied,

"I like you too."

Dipper was ecstatic. "I am so glad to hear you say that! I have been worrying for the past few weeks about telling you. This is great!"

Norman reached his other hand out to touch Dipper's other hand. They stood like that for a second, just looking at each other. Norman's face was burning up, it was almost the same shade as his hoodie. Dipper leaned in closer and Norman closed his eyes. The moment he had been waiting for since the first week of school was about to happen.

Dipper whispered to Norman, "Do you know long I have been waiting for Today's weather will be cloudy with a chance of rain in the morning, and possible thunderstorms in the afternoon. But get out your telescopes because the skies will be clear tonight for a meteor shower-"

Norman opened his eyes. He was in bed, and his alarm just woke him up from the best dream he'd ever had.

_Seriously?_ Norman thought to himself. _I can't believe this. I can't freaking believe this._ He turned his alarm off and buried himself under the covers. _This is the worst. I hate this. I just want to curl up and die._ _Stupid weatherman. _

* * *

"Norman? Wake up!"

Norman sat up in bed and looked down at his roommate.

"It's 7:15! You must have overslept."

_I hate this._ Norman thought to himself as he climbed out of bed.

The day dragged on. It was Friday, so everyone was done with school for the week, but Norman was counting down the minutes until he got to go get ice cream with Coraline. He was excited to talk to his cousin, but he was also excited for ice cream. The dining hall only had soft serve and he was getting very tired of it.

Norman spent most of class that day trying to figure out how to tell Coraline about Dipper. He had to find a way that he was comfortable saying it out loud. Where someone could potentially hear him. And that someone could potentially know Dipper and tell him.

_Ugh. I really hate this._

At lunch, Norman did his best to avoid eye contact with Dipper. But Dipper, for some reason, kept trying harder and harder to have a face-to-face conversation with Norman.

"Today my english teacher let us have class outside." Dipper said as he ate his sandwich. "We wrote poems about the plants outside. Too bad there weren't any flowers, everyone's poems were about dead grass. I think my teacher is going through a divorce or something."

"Mmm," Norman mumbled, turning further away from Dipper. He couldn't stop thinking about the dream he had. _Am I really falling that hard for him? Can I ever just be friends with Dipper, or will these feelings always be there?_

Thankfully, Norman's savior appeared.

"Hey guys!" Mabel was grinning ear to ear. "I've had the best day today!" She sat down in between Norman and Dipper, which Norman was eternally grateful for.

"What happened, Mabel?" Dipper asked his sister.

"Nothing special, but every time I got bored I looked at this picture!" Mabel snickered as she took one of the photos of Dipper in drag out of her pocket.

"_Mabel! Put that away!" _Dipper snarled as he reached out to grab the photo. Mabel was too quick for him, though, and returned it to her pocket before he could get to it.

"Don't worry, bro. I've been careful about it. This is our little secret."

Norman couldn't even enjoy the conversation. He had completely forgotten about last night's incident. Now he had two reasons to blush when he looked at Dipper. For the first time, he just wanted lunch to be over so he could go back to class.

For the rest of lunch, Norman ate silently while Dipper and Mabel conversed. They seemed to be much more in sync now that Dipper knew how Mabel was feeling. When the bell rang, Norman gathered his things quickly so he could scurry off to class without having to make eye contact with Dipper. Just as he was about to walk away from the table, he felt a hand on his shoulder. Norman turned around to see Dipper's concerned face looking right at him.

"Norman, buddy, are you okay? You've been acting really weird today. I didn't think anything of it when you slept in, but now you're avoiding me? Not talking? What's up?"

"I'm just not feeling great today I guess..." Norman looked down at the floor to avoid looking at Dipper. He couldn't help but crack a smile, though. _Dipper is worried about me. He cares about me._

"Well I'm here for you, buddy. Whatever you need. Wanna walk to class together?" Dipper nudged Norman playfully.

"Okay, if you want to..." Norman reluctantly obliged.

Most of the way to class, Dipper handled the conversation. Norman made a better attempt to reply. Since they were both walking in the same direction, Norman didn't have to look at Dipper. But it was nice to know that Dipper was looking at him, at least some of the time.

"And then Mabel says, 'It's a good thing I didn't tell him about the dirty knife!'" Dipper laughed at his own joke.

Norman chuckled. "Well, here's my classroom. Oh yeah, I'm gonna hang out with Coraline this afternoon, so I won't be seeing you til later. Just thought I should let you know."

"Okay, cool. Yeah, I'm gonna be at Mabel's. Okay. See you later." Dipper waved good bye to his friend as he scampered off to class. Norman blushed and went to sit down.

* * *

Finally the last bell rang, and Norman eagerly left class to meet Coraline. He dropped his backpack off at his room and grabbed his coat, and skipped down the stairs to the parking lot.

"Hey, Norm." Coraline ran up to him from behind. "How've you been?"

Norman sighed. "Let's get in the car first..."

"Oh no, Norm, you're not having nightmares again, are you?" Coraline said worriedly.

"Not in the usual sense of the word." Norman replied as they got into the car. "I guess I'll start from the beginning. So I started to have these... feelings for Dipper, and up until now it has been just, you know... a little crush I guess... but last night I had this dream that he liked me too, and now I can't look at him without either feeling really happy or really sad, and I just... I don't know what to do. I don't even know if he's... you know. Playing for my team."

"Wow Norm, I, uh, wasn't expecting that. Well, I really don't know what to say... I've never, uh, had a crush on my roommate before. All I know is that Dipper seems like a great dude, and even if you can't be with him the way you want to, you should just be grateful that you're friends with him. Your prince will come, and if it's not Dipper, it's not Dipper."

"Thanks, Coraline. I just hope no one finds out... I was afraid that someone would overhear when I told you just now-"

"Hey Norman."

Norman was startled. He sat paralyzed as the back door opened and Wybie got into the car. "How's it goin'?"

"Thanks for sending my cousin into shock, Wybie." Coraline snarked as she started the car and drove out of the parking lot.

Coraline dropped Wybie off at his house and she took Norman to the local ice cream parlor. It had begun to rain outside, so they sat in the back of the parlor and enjoyed their ice cream.

"So, what do you like about Dipper?" Coraline asked between licks of her mint chocolate ice cream.

Norman blushed. He looked around the parlor. It was empty except for the owner, who was in the back room at the moment.

Norman sighed. "Well, I guess I like how easy it is for us to talk. Kind of the way you and I talk, Coraline. He doesn't think I'm weird at all. And he always seems to be so in control of the situation, which is nice because I never feel like I am. And, he's cute, I guess."

Coraline giggled. "You are so cute." She tousled his hair. Norman blushed. They laughed.

Norman felt a lot better. He returned to the dormitory feeling better than ever. As he walked up the stairs, he checked his phone. There was a new message from Dipper.

_Knock before you come in. Mabel and I had to move all the ghost stuff to our room._

Norman approached their room and knocked on the door. "It's Norman," he called into the room.

"Just a second," he heard from inside.

Dipper opened the door. Mabel was shoving newspaper articles and website printouts into one of Dipper's drawers.

Dipper sighed. "So apparently Caroline was very uncomfortable with my little fashion show last night, and I'm not allowed in Mabel's room anymore. So we're gonna keep this stuff in here. Is that okay with you?"

"Yeah, it's fine," Norman said as he entered the room. "Actually, I've done a lot of thinking and I kinda want to see the stuff about the haunting. I don't know if I want to go investigating with you, but I think I can handle the literature."

"Really?" Dipper and Mabel said in unison.

"Awesome! Yeah, here you go!" Dipper handed Norman the ParaPedia article about Saint Aloysius. It contained the history of the school, biographies of the priest who ran the school and the four missing students, and statements from the teenagers who witnessed Jack Hutcherson's disappearance.

"The bulk of the information is there, but we have the floor plans of the chapel, a map of the woods, photos from newspapers... everything we need in that drawer. Feel free to look through whatever you want. And don't feel like you have to. If you want to back out, it's no problem."

"Thanks." Norman smiled at his roommate. As he began to read the article, he thought to himself, _what have I gotten myself into?_


	7. Chapter 7

That night Norman had a dream. It was scary, but it wasn't really a nightmare. It was just very strange.

Norman was standing in the middle of nothing. There was nothing but white in every direction as far as he could see. Everything was perfectly silent. All of a sudden he heard a familiar voice.

"Hey, Norman!"

Norman looked behind him and saw Dipper waving at him, beckoning him over. As Norman lifted his foot to begin walking towards his friend, a ghost appeared out of nowhere. Another and another appeared in a straight line in front of him, forming a path over to Dipper. Norman was startled; he had never seen anything like this before. One of the ghosts told him, "It's okay, you can walk on us. We can't feel it."

Norman began the walk over to Dipper. He hopped from specter to specter, but Dipper didn't get any closer. He hopped faster, and when he realized even more ghosts were popping up to make the path to Dipper even longer, he began to run.

Running at full speed, Norman finally made some distance towards Dipper. He got closer and closer to Dipper, and just as he was about to reach out and grab Dipper's hand, the ghosts beneath him disappeared and he fell down into the nothingness.

Norman was startled awake. He had fallen asleep reading printouts about the Saint Aloysius disappearances. Many of the papers were still scattered about his bunk. Norman collected them and put them on his bedside shelf.

Norman tried to fall back asleep, but the sun was starting to come up, and he couldn't stop thinking about the Saint Aloysius case. He tried to collect his thoughts from what he had read the night before.

_Okay. So the priest, Father Joseph Short, was the model priest... he wasn't corrupt, he didn't skim off the top, he didn't have affairs or go against the church. The townspeople loved him, and everyone was happy that he was in charge of the school their children were attending. _

_And the girl that disappeared first, in... 1951, her name is Priscilla Nottingham. There was a photo of her in one of the newspaper clippings, she was beautiful. Probably the prettiest girl in the school. Probably the Courtney of the 1950's. She wasn't a great student, but they never found any reason for anyone to have anything against her... except maybe a jealous classmate. _

_Then in 1953, three boys disappeared. Bill Green, Thomas Stephens and Michael Grant. They were pretty average. Not on the sports teams, not at the top or bottom of the class. A friend reported to the police that went out for a walk and never came back. One of them, Thomas, was kind of a jerk, but none of them ever did anything worth killing over... at least not that we know of._

_And in 1995, seven teenagers visited the priests office, and Jack Hutcherson vanished into thin air. The teenagers reported that they were there trying to solve the mystery of what happened to the four students and were going to look for clues in the priest's office. One of the teenagers, Jillian Bowe, reported to the police that Jack had been acting obnoxious all night because there was a girl in the group he was trying to impress. That could have upset a ghost. _

Norman flipped through the stack of papers on his shelf. He came across a piece of looseleaf paper with the word 'theories' scrawled across it. Every theory had been crossed out except for one.

_The priest spent his whole life doing good, and was punished when he went bankrupt and was forced to shut down his school. He felt as though he had been wronged and haunts the school grounds, seeking revenge. The priest's ghost killed Jack Hutcherson._

Norman was puzzled. _What about the other four disappearances? Who killed the Saint Aloysius students? _He looked further down the paper.

_Serial killer who kills teenage Catholic school students._

Norman rolled his eyes. That was way too anticlimactic. He sighed and climbed down off his bunk to get ready for class.

Breakfast was uneventful as usual. Then the bell rang, and the silent serenity of Norman's pre-bell breakfast broke out into hundreds of students scurrying to the cereal bar to grab a bite to eat before the beginning of class.

Norman gulped down the dregs of his sugary cereal as he ran out of the dining hall, trying not to get trampled by hungry students. He walked down the long hallway to the academic wing. The dining hall had only been built a few years ago, so entering the academic wing was like walking into a different century. Soon Norman approached the long hallway lined with lockers and students. As soon as he stepped foot onto the hundred-year-old tiling of the academic hallway, something strange happened. A crack formed in the tile underneath his foot. Norman was startled, and stood in shock as he watched the crack extend in front of him at an alarming rate.

Norman felt someone bump into him from behind. He realized he had stopped short in the middle of the crowded hallway.

The disgruntled student yelled, "Watch where you're goin, kid!" and gave him a shove. Norman crashed into a locker and lost his bearings. He shook off his dizzyness and desperately tried to follow the crack in the floor. He ran through the hallway, pushing his way through crowds of students, until the crack led him into a classroom.

Norman opened the door and looked into the classroom. He faced the rows of desks, all of which were empty, and everything seemed normal. There were no ghosts or strange happenings. Then he heard the sound of chalk on the chalkboard. He turned to look at the board and was face to face with the words,

_Don't find me._

Norman felt the presence of a ghost, but he couldn't see one.

"I know you're there, let me talk to you!" He shouted into the empty room. He tried to concentrate to hear even the faintest reply.

Norman's concentration was broken when the bell rang.

_Dammit. I'm late for class._

Norman looked back at the board before leaving the room. The words were gone.

* * *

At lunch, Norman stood in line waiting for his turn to order a sandwich. He was still thinking about the chalkboard incident from earlier. _Don't find me._ He had spent the whole day trying to figure out what it figured it was the priest's spirit who wrote it. He was the one haunting the school, after all. _Maybe Father Joseph feels guilty for killing Jack Hutcherson and he doesn't want anyone to talk to him... or something. _

"Kid? What do you want?"

Norman's train of thought was interrupted by the sandwich station worker.

"Uhh, ham, cheese, and lettuce, please."

The hairnet-clad worker handed him a crudely slapped-together sandwich and shooed him away. Norman grabbed the plate and slunk over to Mabel and Dipper, who were happily conversing.

"Norman!" Dipper exclaimed as Norman sat down with his friends. "The weirdest thing happened to me today."

"Really? What was it?" Norman perked up. Maybe something similar happened to Dipper. Maybe this was getting weirder than he thought.

"One of my teachers actually called me Dipper!"

Norman gasped. That was weird. Dipper had told him that only one teacher had ever called him by his nickname, no matter how many times Dipper asked them not to call him by his real name.

"Let's celebrate! I'll go get cake!" Mabel jumped out of her chair and scampered off to the dessert bar.

The Saint Aloysius readings had been so much to take in that Norman had almost forgotten about something he wanted to ask Dipper about. He decided that now was the best time to do it.

"Hey Dipper... You said yesterday that Caroline doesn't want you in her room anymore... what happened?"

Dipper sighed. "Well yesterday afternoon, I realized I had left a notebook in Mabel's room, so I went to go get it. I knocked on the door, and Caroline answered. She said Mabel was in the library doing homework, so I asked if I could come in for a second and get my notebook. Then she looks me in the eye and says, 'I'm not comfortable letting a fag into my room,' and slams the door in my face."

Norman was speechless. "...She... she said that to you?"

Dipper nodded silently.

"Are you going to say anything to her about it? I mean, your sister lives there... you should be allowed to visit her..."

"Are you kidding me? Caroline is not worth my time. And Mabel is so fed up with her. She wants to switch roommates. She would rather sleep on the couch in the common room than be in the same room as her."

Norman was shocked. Caroline seemed so harmless, he couldn't believe she would say that. But somewhere inside Norman he was happy. _Dipper supports gay rights... that's a good sign, right? _

"I mean, it's the freaking twenty-first century. You can't kick someone out of your room for such a petty reason. That's like kicking someone out because they're black, you know?"

Norman nodded. The two boys sat quietly for a few moments until the silence was broken by Mabel.

"I brought cake!" Mabel plopped three slices of cake down on the table. She had somehow acquired icing and drawn the big dipper on the cakes. She looked over and saw that Norman and Dipper were no longer in the mood to celebrate.

"What happened? You guys were so happy when I left!" Mabel sulked.

Dipper sighed and turned to his sister. "Sorry, Mabel. We just don't really feel like cake."

"Aww, come on! No matter what's got you down, cake can always make you feel a little better!" She took a forkful of cake and attempted to feed her brother.

Dipper blushed. "No, Mabel, you can't feed me!" He tried to fight off his sister, batting her hand away and keeping his mouth shut tight. A minute later his face was covered in icing and the two were laughing. Norman chuckled; he always enjoyed watching their sibling antics.

"Don't think you're safe, Norman!" Mabel attempted to do the same to Norman, but he saved himself the embarrassment and just ate the cake.

"Aww, Norman! You're no fun!" Mabel made a disgruntled face and slumped back into her seat.

"I just decided that I would rather eat the cake off of a fork than off of my face..." Norman said as he looked over at Dipper, who was still trying to wipe all of the cake off of his face. Dipper glared at Norman in an I'm-jealous-of-you-for-not-having-cake-all-over-your-face kind of way.

Norman smiled. He was feeling a lot better. But now there was another question that could not escape Norman's mind.

_So does Dipper like guys...?_


	8. Chapter 8

Norman had this really bad habit of scratching himself when he was under a lot of stress. He would scratch the same patch of skin on his arm throughout the day until it was a bright red, dry, irritated, flaky mess. But no matter how much it bothered him, if he was stressed enough, he would just keep scratching. Norman had been scratching his arm a lot lately, and no amount of Mabel's expensive, nice-smelling lotion could soothe it.

He sighed as he picked up a plate of turkey and mashed potatoes and headed over to their lunch table. Thanksgiving Thursday got boring after a while. He sat down across the table from Mabel and Dipper and began to eat silently.

"Hey Norman, we haven't watched a horror movie in a while- do you want to watch one tonight?" Dipper smiled at his friend.

Norman, who was barely listening, realized that Dipper's sentence had ended with a question. He quickly responded, "oh, yeah. Sure," even though he wasn't completely sure what he had just agreed to. He began to scratch his arm, and looked down at the table. It made it even worse when Dipper smiled at him. Norman grew more conflicted every time he interacted with his roommate. Every night he would review the events of that day and try to reach a verdict, whether Dipper was just a friend or he wanted to be more than friends, and Norman had reached each verdict an equal number of times. Every time he decided that the next day he was going to tell Dipper he liked him, Dipper would turn around and make Norman regret even thinking about doing so. It was driving Norman crazy.

He sat feeling sorry for himself for a second until he felt a cold metal object on his hand. He looked up to see Mabel reaching across the table and striking his hand with her spoon.

"No! Bad Norman! No scratching!" Mabel scolded. Norman quickly retracted his hand and went back to eating.

Dipper pulled some of his ghost hunt papers out of his bag. "Okay, Mabel. I think we're almost ready to go over to the chapel. We just need to finalize our game plan and then we will be ready. How's tomorrow night sound?"

"Perfect! I just have to make sure we have enough extra batteries for the flashlights." Mabel turned to Norman. "Norman, will you be joining us? I think you would have a lot of fun. And it might take your mind off some of your stress."

"I don't know, Mabel... I'll think about it. I'm gonna go use the bathroom..."

Norman couldn't stand sitting at the table with Dipper any longer. He had spent lunch periods in the restroom before, and he could do it again.

Just as he was about to enter the boy's room, he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Mabel.

Before Norman could say anything, Mabel pulled him in for a giant bear hug.

"I know you've been stressed lately, and I just want you to know that I'm here for you, Norman. No matter what."

Norman blushed. "Wow, Mabel... It's great to hear you say that. I've just been so... off lately..."

"And if you ever need to talk about anything, I'm right here." She hugged Norman tighter and whispered in his ear, "_I know your secret."_

Norman's eyes widened, his heart began to pound in his ears, and he pulled away from Mabel. He grabbed her hands, pulled her over to a corner, and looked around frantically to make sure no one was within earshot of them.

"_What?!"_ Norman whispered harshly.

"Don't worry Norman, your secret's safe with me."

"_But... how... how did you know?" _Norman felt himself going into a mild panic attack.

"I'm a _girl,_ Norman. I just have a keen eye for these things. If Dipper was even half as perceptive as I am, he would have figured it out too. I see the way-"

"_Keep your voice down!" _Norman put out a hand to cover Mabel's mouth.

"_You look at him..." _Mabel continued, whispering in Norman's ear. "_I see the way you blush whenever he says something nice to you, and I see the way you smile when the two of you go back to your room, because you know you'll get to have him all to yourself."_

Norman was paralyzed. He could barely move, and he had to summon all of his strength to say just two words.

"Go... away..."

Mabel gave Norman one last hug, turned around, and walked back to the lunch table.

Norman just stood there for a few seconds, trying to figure out what just happened.

_So Mabel knows that I like Dipper. Okay. That isn't the worst thing in the world. I mean, she's kept the secret from Dipper for the past month and a half, I can trust her to just keep it for... the rest of her life..._

Norman banged his head against the wall. Not too hard, but hard enough to punish his brain for this mess that it had gotten him into. He trudged his way towards the boy's room and splashed some water on his face. He decided that he had nothing to lose, and walked back to the table as if he were walking towards his own grave.

"Norm! Hey buddy! Woah, what's up?"

Norman was face to face with Coraline, who was in line for the soda machine. He snapped back to reality and let out a groaning noise.

"Norman..." Coraline patted her cousin on the back as he rested his head on her shoulder.

"I don't know what to do, Coraline... Mabel knows about... my feelings... and I don't even know what to do about my feelings, let alone how I feel about her knowing about my feelings..."

"Woah, buddy, calm down. Everything's gonna be okay, okay?"

"Okay..." Norman replied reluctantly.

"Here. Have a soda." Coraline poured him an orange soda and handed it to him. "That always makes you feel better. Now come on, I'll walk you back to your table. I'm gonna have a little chat with Mabel. And if you need someone to talk to, I'm free this afternoon if you want to do something."

Coraline deposited Norman at the table with Dipper. "Hey Mabel, come here for a second."

The two girls walked away, leaving Norman and Dipper to sit in silence. A few seconds later, Dipper broke the silence.

"So Norman, I just wanted you to know that you can talk to me. About anything. Anything you're stressed or worried about, or whatever. I'm here to help."

Norman forced a smile.

"Thanks." He tried to look up at Dipper without making eye contact with him. He continued to scratch his arm. Dipper looked away. Norman sighed.

Finally Mabel returned to the table. She patted Norman on the back as the bell rang, and they all headed off to class.

* * *

During his most boring class of the day, algebra, Norman decided to relieve himself from the torture and ask to use the bathroom. He eagerly grabbed the hall pass and took a leisurely stroll to the restroom.

Inside the bathroom, Norman realized that he did not actually need to go. He washed his hands and blew soap bubbles to pass the time until he had to go back to class. He laughed as one of the bubbles popped on his nose, and decided he should get back to algebra. He turned the faucet handle to rinse the soap off his hands, and jumped back when spiders began to crawl out of the sink.

"Woah..." Norman blinked as he tried to get his thoughts straight. "I must be imagining this..."

Within seconds, the entire counter was covered in spiders. Norman let out a tiny shriek. He approached the counter, but by the time he reached the sink, all of the spiders had retreated back into the faucet. Norman, whose hands were still soapy, turned the handle again very cautiously, and was pleasantly surprised when water came out. He quickly dried his hands and hurried back to class.

* * *

After class, Norman was still a little shaken from the spider incident. He hadn't forgotten about the words written on the chalkboard the other day, either. He sat at his desk in his room, staring at one of the zombie posters on his wall.

_I won't tell Dipper and Mabel about the chalkboard or the spiders,_ Norman thought to himself._ If I see anything else weird, I'll tell them. I don't want to freak them out for no good reason, and I definitely don't want them to figure out that I can see things other people can't..._ _Maybe if I just-_

"Norman? Norman..." Dipper broke Norman's train of thought.

Norman collected his thoughts and replied, "yeah?"

"I was just telling Mabel about our plans for tomorrow night. We're going to investigate the chapel and see if there's any weird activity. We're not dumb enough to go up to the priest's office, where that other kid was evaporated, but there may be some clues in the pews."

"Clues in the pews..." Mabel chortled.

"Shut up, this is serious!" Dipper scolded his sister.

Norman couldn't concentrate on their conversation. He couldn't concentrate on Jane Eyre, and he couldn't concentrate on his own thoughts.

"I'm gonna go over to Coraline's house. I'll see you guys later." Norman decreed as he stood up and exited the room.

He texted Coraline as he walked down the stairs of the dormitory towards the parking lot. Norman spotted Coraline's car and walked over to it. A few minutes later his blue-haired cousin exited the school and waved at him.

"Hey Norm, you should be glad you decided to take me up on my offer while I was still here! If I had gone home already I wouldn't have come all the way back just to pick you up!" She approached her cousin and tousled his hair. "Aw, I'm just kidding. You can call me anytime, Norm. Come on, get in the car."

As they left the school grounds, Coraline asked her cousin, "So where do you want to go?"

"Ugh, don't ask me..." Norman buried his head in his hands.

"You seem like you could use some fresh air. Let's go to the park. I assure you, no one from Ashland Academy will be there."

And she was right, because no one was there at all. Coraline and Norman stepped out of the car and into the deserted park.

"Ah, autumn in Oregon... I bet you miss your New England falls, don't you?"

"I guess so..." Norman replied. Fall had always been his favorite season. He did agree that it was a bit too drab here.

"So what's up, Norman? Talk to me."

"What did you say to Mabel?"

Coraline laughed. "Well I told her that Dipper's friendship means a lot to you and that no matter how Dipper feels about all of this, it's very important to you that this matter is handled in the way you think it should be handled, and that she shouldn't take any actions without talking to you about it first."

Norman stopped in his tracks. Coraline took a few steps forward before realizing he had stopped, and turned to face her cousin.

"You said that? Wow, thanks, Coraline... that's what I would have told Mabel if my brain had been functioning correctly..."

"No problem, Norm."

"So that's one problem solved... Now what about the other problem?"

"What, finding out which team Dipper plays for? Well that will be easy now that Mabel's on your side. Just ask her."

Norman ran and hugged Coraline. "You're a genius! My brain has been so clogged up lately... I can't believe I spent all day worrying!"

"See? Everything's falling into place. Now let's go get ice cream."

Norman walked back to Coraline's car with a skip in his step.


	9. Chapter 9

Authors Note: I want to thank everybody for all of your support! My story just reached 3,000 views! That's more than I ever could have hoped for. This is my first story so I'm sorry if it's dragging a little bit... if anyone has any constructive criticism I'd be more than happy to read your comments. The action is going to pick up soon!

* * *

Norman was still chipper by the time he reached his room. He swung the door open, and Dipper and Mabel gasped when they saw the glimpse of a smile on his face.

"Hey buddy! Did you have fun with Coraline?" Dipper smiled at his roommate.

"Yeah, sure. Mabel?" Norman gestured at the hallway. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Mabel jumped up off the floor and scampered out into the hallway.

"Why does everyone need to talk to Mabel all of a sudden?" Dipper asked himself as Norman shut the door.

Norman took Mabel by the hand and led her through the hallway.

"Ohh, Norman... What is this?" Mabel grinned.

"This... is me trying to find a secluded place where we can talk."

"Talk?" Mabel batted her eyelashes at Norman.

"Yes, talk. You of all people should know that, Mabel."

Norman took Mabel down the stairs and outside. They walked to the opposite end of the parking lot, over near the edge of the woods.

"Okay. Nobody here. So, I have something to ask you."

"Yess?" Mabel blushed.

Norman sighed. "Which way... does Dipper... swing?"

Mabel sighed. "You know Norman, I don't really know... I'd love to tell you that he, you know, swings your way, but he has had crushes on girls before. Although, he has always had some girly tendencies, and he never feels like my posters of hunky guys are a threat to his masculinity. Honestly, I think that if he met the right guy, he'd fall in love just the same as if he met the right girl... he doesn't seem to care about that kinda stuff, you know?"

Norman put his hands in his pockets, looked down at the ground and kicked around some of the gravel at his feet. He sighed. "Great... I'm no better off than I was this morning. I thought you would have all the answers, but even Dipper's twin sister can't figure out his orientation..."

Mabel frowned. "Aww, don't worry, Norman. Dipper loves you. I promise you, if there is even a tiny chance that Dipper could have a relationship with a guy, that guy would be you. Hands down."

"Thanks, Mabel." Norman smiled and looked up at his friend. But where he expected to see Mabel's face, he saw a fanged monster.

Norman yelled in shock and stepped backwards. He tripped over a root and fell on his back. He looked up to see Mabel, normal Mabel, very concerned and reaching for him.

"Norman? Are you okay?" Mabel was just as shocked as he was.

"Ughhh... I thought... I saw..." Norman muttered as Mabel helped him up.

"Come on, let's get you inside. If you think you hurt yourself badly, I can take you to the nurse."

Mabel got Norman up on his feet, but had a hard time keeping him upright.

"Norman, I can't really support you... if you don't think you can make it back to the dorm, I can call Dipper to come help."

"No! No Dipper. I can do it." With Mabel's help, Norman limped back to his dorm room. Mabel opened the door, and as soon as Dipper saw that Norman was leaning on his sister, he jumped up and ran over to him.

"What happened? Are you okay?" Dipper took helped him over to the bunk bed. "Here buddy, you can lie down on my bed."

Dipper put his arm around Norman's shoulder and hoisted Norman's arm around his. He helped Norman across the room and lay him down on his bed. Norman was in heaven. He almost smiled despite still being in pain. He had been dreading Dipper's help, but now that it was actually happening he was regretting walking all the way up to his room himself. Besides the occasional thug hug, he had never been that close to Dipper before... and he had never dreamed of being in his bed. He couldn't feel the pain in his back anymore, and he forgot about all of his troubles. He was so busy thinking about how happy he was that he didn't even notice Dipper and Mabel's conversation.

"What happened, Mabel? Does he need to see the nurse?" Dipper asked his sister frantically.

"He thought he saw something scary, and he tripped over himself and fell on his back. He just got the wind knocked out of him, he'll be fine."

Dipper sighed. "Alright, as long as Norman's okay... You said he saw something scary?"

"Yeah, he said "I thought... I saw..." but he didn't say what it was. He probably saw a weird face in a tree or something."

"Huh. I'll have to ask Norman about that when he's feeling better."

By this point, Norman had tuned into the conversation, but he didn't want Dipper to know that he was feeling better. He figured that telling Dipper about the monster he saw could wait. He was getting excited though; as soon as he told Dipper and Mabel about all of his ominous visions, they would decide they were in over their heads and call off the investigation. Norman was relieved that he would not have to go the ghost hunt after all.

Norman was so comfortable in Dipper's bed that he fell asleep while Dipper and Mabel finalized their plans to investigate the chapel. At 7:00 they woke Norman up to go to dinner.

"Norman? Norman..." Dipper shook his roommate awake. "Are you feeling better? Mabel and I are going to go to dinner."

Norman groggily replied, "Yeah, I'll be ready in a minute." He dragged himself out of bed and joined Dipper and Mabel.

Norman thought to himself,_ I really should tell them about the visions I've been having..._ _I just might have to tell a little white lie, and say that other people saw them too... just so they aren't suspicious about my gift._

Norman sat down at their usual table with a plate of spaghetti. He remembered how he used to like to eat it because he thought it looked like zombie brains. He chuckled. _Why did things have to get so complicated?_ He looked up to see Dipper and Mabel sitting down across the table from him. He gulped. _Here goes nothing..._

"Guys, I have something I have to tell you..." Norman leaned in to the middle of the table. He was nervous about telling them because it may lead to some questions that would pressure him to reveal his gift, but he knew that once he told them the investigation would be off. "I've been seeing... some weird stuff going on lately, and I think it might be the ghost. He's trying to haunt me."

Dipper and Mabel's eyes widened, and their jaws dropped. "What?" they said simultaneously.

"Yeah... well the other day, I was walking down the hallway and I saw a crack appear on the floor, and it continued to crack down the hallway so I followed it to an empty room, and someone... or something... had written "Don't find me" on the chalkboard. The room was empty, but when I looked back at the board, the words were gone."

Dipper and Mabel continued to stare at Norman with their mouths hanging open in shock.

"And then, this afternoon, I turned on the sink in the restroom, and spiders came out of the faucet... like, hundreds, or thousands of them. And then they all crawled back into the faucet, and when I turned the sink on again, water came out."

If it was possible, the twins' eyes opened wider and their jaws dropped lower.

"And today, the thing I thought I saw when I fell backwards, it was a monster... on Mabel's head. Like, her head was a monster's head. It was really creepy."

Dipper and Mabel sat in disbelief.

"And, that's it. No more weird stuff..." Norman scratched the back of his head, hoping one of them would say something.

Dipper blinked his eyes enough times to make up for the lack of blinking in the past minute. "You saw... all that stuff?"

"Yeah. There was someone else in the bathroom when the spiders came out of the sink, and they said they saw it too. So I'm not crazy or anything..." Norman felt bad lying to Dipper, but he knew it was the right thing to do.

Norman took a deep breath. "So I was thinking that those things I saw were warnings, and that maybe, we should call off the investigation... I think we should just leave well enough alone."

Dipper mulled it over for a second and responded, "Norman, I really value your opinion, but I think we should go into the chapel tonight."

"What? Why do you want to go tonight?" Norman began to get anxious.

"Well those things you saw were obviously a ghost expressing anger towards us for snooping around, and the longer we wait to investigate, the angrier the ghost will get, and the more likely it will be that something bad will happen."

None of this made any sense to Norman, but once Dipper was intent on something, it was impossible to reason with him. Norman hadn't been seeing any ghosts lately, and that was a bad sign. The day the Puritan zombies rose from the dead three years ago, all of the ghosts fled Blithe Hollow because they knew something was up. Norman knew the situation was too big for them to handle, but he couldn't share this piece of information with Dipper and Mabel. Since the two of them were willing to continue with an investigation even after hearing about creepily ominous messages, and he figured that if he told them, they would definitely pressure him into using his gift to investigate. And that was the exact opposite of what Norman wanted. Norman just accepted his doom and began to eat his dinner in silence while Dipper and Mabel went over their plans for the night.

Dipper read their plans off of a note pad. "Okay, so after dinner, we go pack our supplies up. We'll need flashlights, a map of the chapel, a camera, notepads, and magnifying glasses. Then we head out to the chapel and look through the pews, row by row, and then search up front where the priest used to give sermons." Dipper and Mabel were starting to get excited. The two of them agreed on the plan and high-fived. Norman sunk into his chair and sighed. This was going to be a long night.


	10. Chapter 10

Norman's stomach was in knots. He stood with the twins in the dorm room, clinging onto the flashlight they had given him as he waited for them to announce that they were ready to go. Dipper and Mabel were head to toe in ghost-hunting gear, including flashlights, pocket knives, disposable cameras, and a strange book that Dipper tucked away in his fleece jacket.

"Almost ready!" chimed Mabel as she tightened her utility belt. "Okay, let's go!"

The three of them scampered out of the room and over to the stairway. They slunk out of the building and over to the other side of campus, and across the field to the chapel. They weren't supposed to be out past 9pm on school nights, so they kept quiet and tried to avoid any prying eyes. Norman grew more and more nervous with each step as they approached the chapel. Finally the giant stone building loomed above them, and the three friends used all of their strength to pry open the gigantic wooden door. It creaked open, and they stepped into the cold, stony interior of the chapel. Moonlight streamed through the stained glass windows to reveal the rows of pews that surrounded Norman and the twins.

Norman shuddered. _Nothing out of the ordinary... yet..._

The three of them split up and inspected the pews, row by row.

"Remember, guys, people stopped coming in the chapel right after the three teenagers disappeared, so there could be clues about the disappearances anywhere. So look under each seat, and inside every book slot."

"Book slot?" Mabel scoffed.

"Yeah, you know... the slot in front of where you sit where they have the bible and hymn books and stuff..." Dipper replied defensively. Norman was too freaked out at this point to laugh at his word choice.

Norman began to search his side of the church. Every minute or so, he would hear a ghastly noise and pop his head up, but no ghosts were to be seen. He tried to be as through in search as possible, but his overwhelming need to leave the chapel trumped his waning interest in the outcome of the case.

"Norman, you're almost done? Wow, buddy, you're really good at this!" Dipper smiled at Norman from across the chapel. Norman smiled, but his moment of joy shriveled when the chapel suddenly grew dark. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and he got back to searching so he could get the hell out of there.

"Done! This side of the church is clean." Norman announced as he finished inspecting the last pew. Dipper poked his head up and saw that Mabel was close to being done with her section, but he was still far behind.

"Hey Norman, could you come help me out? Why don't you start at the end and work your way back, and we'll meet in the middle. Or rather, closer to my end, because you're the master pew inspector."

"Master pew inspector?" Mabel poked her head up and laughed at her brother's increasingly bad word choices.

Dipper turned a deep red and went back to searching. Norman laughed and started at the other end. It only took them a few minutes to finish, and Norman was excited to leave.

"Okay, just one more thing and then we can go back." Dipper announced. "The altar."

As Norman looked up to the front of the church, the cloud that had been covering the moon moved and the moonlight flooded into the chapel and onto the altar. Norman shivered. The twins began to approach the front of the church, and Norman reluctantly followed.

The altar was fairly modest. Dipper inspected the podium where father Short used to give sermons, and Mabel inspected the various tables and chairs lining the altar. Norman shone his flashlight around the dusty floor, but he didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"This area's clear. Mabel, do you see anything?" Dipper asked.

"Nope. Totally normal over here," Mabel replied.

"Same here. Let's get out of here..." Norman chimed in. He turned around and noticed a towering organ at the side of the altar. He pointed his flashlight up the organ's pipes. A rat scurried across the body of the organ, but otherwise everything was fine; it just gave Norman a really weird feeling. On the other side of the organ was a winding staircase up to the second story of the chapel.

"I'm guessing father Short's study is up there?" Norman pointed his flashlight towards the staircase.

"Yeah. But we're not going up there. Don't want to get vaporized by an angry ghost," Dipper replied. He put his hand on Norman's shoulder. "Come on, buddy. Let's get out of here."

Norman's eyes remained fixed on the staircase and the organ for a few seconds until he realized that the twins were about to leave the chapel without him. Norman scampered after them as he eagerly awaited his warm, well-lit dorm room.

* * *

"Wow, that was fun. Huh Norm?" Dipper asked his roommate as they stepped into the safe haven that was their dorm room. They had had a close encounter with a patrolling RA on their way back to their building, and Norman was still recovering from the exhilaration.

"Uh, yeah, I guess..." Norman just wanted to take a shower and go to bed. His face was bright red from the sprint back to their room, and he was still sweating nervously. He began to gather his pajamas, towel and shampoo.

"Hey Norman, isn't your birthday this weekend?"

Norman stopped short. "Yeah, on Saturday. I usually don't really do anything for my birthday though, I don't like to make a big deal out of it..."

"Oh really? Well not this year. _Dead Rising_ is coming out this weekend and guess who got us tickets?"

"What? No way! I thought they were sold out!" Norman forgot about how beat he was. He had been waiting for this movie to come out since it was announced. "How did you get them?"

"This dude bought them the first day, and now he has to go to a wedding or something and he sold them to me. Sweet, right?"

"Aww, man! How much do I owe you for my ticket?"

"It's on me, buddy. My treat."

Norman blushed. "Really? Thanks, Dipper... You really shouldn't have."

Dipper smiled. "Happy birthday, Norman."

Norman continued to blush. He hoped Dipper thought he was still red in the face from their ghost hunt. "Well... I'm gonna take a shower now..." Dipper chuckled and turned to his computer. Norman sighed as he entered the bathroom and locked the door.

* * *

The next few days were uneventful. Dipper and Mabel tried desperately to assign meaning to things they saw in the chapel, but the truth was that there was nothing significant about what they saw. Norman hadn't been able to sleep the past few nights, so he was extra groggy and uninterested during the day. He couldn't stop worrying about going to the movies with Dipper, because he didn't know if it was a date, and he didn't know what to wear or what to say or how to act. He had never been on a date before, and even if it wasn't a date, Norman wasn't exactly the most experienced in social setups like this. He couldn't remember the last time he had been to the movies with a friend, and at least those times, he was either in a group instead of one-on-one, and he wasn't romantically attracted to the friend he was going with... He needed to talk to Coraline. She would know what to do... and if all else fails, he could always ask Courtney. Norman really hoped it didn't come to that, though.

"Norman? You awake?"

Norman was awake, but he had rested his head to the table and covered it with his arms out of tiredness and stress. He peeked out of his fortress to see Mabel's bright eyes looking at him.

"You okay? Do you want some water?"

Norman realized that lunch period was halfway over and he hadn't even grabbed food yet. "Yeah, I'll have some." He gulped half the glass down and left to get a sandwich. He passed Coraline on the way over, and backtracked to go talk to her.

"Coraline!" He shouted at his cousin.

"Norman! Hey, how are you? Have you come up with anything about the ghost hunt?"

"I'm okay, I guess. You know how I told you Dipper was taking me to the movies Friday night?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I'm having trouble... discerning the, um... _nature_ of this, um... _outing._"

"So you can't tell if you're going on a date."

Norman froze up.

"Dude, don't worry. Your friends are nowhere in sight. Look, here's what you do. Just be yourself, and don't say anything that might show Dipper that you're not interested. If Dipper likes you, it'll happen, and if he doesn't, it won't. And you won't need to reveal your feelings to him."

"But what if he likes me, but he doesn't do anything to show it? Like what I'm doing?"

"Believe me, Norman. If this is a date, which he invited you to, and _paid for your ticket,_ he'll make a move. And if not, it's his loss."

"Yeah. Okay." Norman sighed. "Okay. I actually need to eat something. Thanks, Coraline."

As Coraline began to walk past Norman, she patted her cousin on the shoulder and told him, "It'll all work out, Norm."

Norman felt her hand lift from his shoulder. He turned, and his cousin had disappeared into the crowded dining hall.

* * *

Norman's heart was pounding in his ears. The last few days had been a blur leading up to this moment. It was 6:45, and Dipper had begun to get ready to go out to the movie. Norman decided he was going to wait until his roommate had gotten ready before he changed, so he could make sure he wasn't under- or god forbid, over-dressing.

Dipper picked out a plaid button-down shirt and a clean pair of jeans from his closet and announced, "Okay, Norman, I'm gonna get dressed. Shut your eyes."

Norman averted his gaze to his iPod screen. He anxiously played a game until he got the okay from Dipper to turn back around. Dipper wasn't too dressed up, just a little nicer than usual. _Okay. I can do that._ Norman picked a long-sleeved red shirt and a brown and navy striped sweater from his closet. He noticed that Dipper was going to wear his everyday fleece jacket, so he decided not to change pants. Norman slunk into the bathroom to change.

"You almost ready, Norman? The taxi's gonna be here in a few minutes."

"Yeah, gimme two seconds!" Norman called through the door to his roommate.

He emerged from the bathroom and was face to face with Dipper. Dipper tugged at Norman's arm as he dragged him into the hallway. "Come on, we're gonna be late!"

Norman blushed as they sprinted down the staircase and out the door. The taxi was waiting for them. They jumped in the cab, and Norman felt his stomach drop. He was officially on a not-quite-sure-whether-it's-a-date.


	11. Chapter 11

Author's note: Thanks to all my followers! The story just hit 4500 views. I am going all out on this story, it's going to be at least 5-7 more chapters, and I'm really excited about it! I'm doing my best to upload these chapters promptly.I hope you like this chapter; writing dialogue is really tough.

* * *

"The movie theater, please," Dipper told the cab driver as they rolled away from the curb.

Dipper sat back in his seat and looked over at Norman. "I can't believe we're about to see _Dead Rising! _And on your birthday, too!_" _

Norman's stomach was in knots, but he was somehow able to have a normal conversation with his roommate.

"My birthday's tomorrow, but yeah. And I still can't believe you actually scored us tickets."

"Well I'm only, like, the most amazing human being on the planet, so..." Dipper grinned at Norman. Norman smiled.

"I guess I can't argue with that." Norman tried to keep from blushing, so he changed the subject. "So horrorreview dot com gave this movie 5 stars."

"Yeah, I've heard great things about it. I just hope it lives up to my incredible expectations."

"Dipper, you liked _Decaying Souls_. You don't get to judge movies."

"Hey, a lot of online critics liked that movie! horrorbuff dot com gave it 3 stars."

Norman almost rolled his eyes. He knew horrorbuff gave very generous reviews, and that Dipper had terrible taste in film. However, he remembered what Coraline said about refraining from saying anything that might make Dipper think he wasn't interested. So, he kept back his eyeroll and made a little white lie.

"Yeah, that's true. horrorbuff is a pretty good site." Norman had to keep from cringing while he said that. "So what else do you want to do this weekend?"

"What, you want more birthday stuff?" Dipper smiled.

"No, no, I didn't mean it that way..." Norman shoved his hands in his jacket pockets. "We don't have to do anything..."

"Dude, I'm kidding! We should like, go out to dinner or something." Dipper laughed.

"Really? You wanna go out to dinner?" Norman blushed. _Maybe this is a date after all... and tomorrow is our second date... I'm getting ahead of myself._

"Yeah, you and me and Mabel, and you can invite Coraline too. I feel kinda bad going to the movies without Mabel, and I know she's getting super sick of eating at the cafeteria."

"The more the merrier, right?" Norman mumbled.

"Yeah, exactly. You know it's a crime to keep your charm and good looks to myself, right?" Dipper jabbed Norman with his elbow.

Norman blushed, and he forced a laugh. His stomach was doing somersaults.

The cab pulled up to the theater. "That'll be ten dollars and 35 cents," the cab driver stated as they got out of the cab. Norman fumbled with his wallet only to look up and see Dipper handing the cab driver some cash.

"Or you could just pay for it, I guess..." Norman scoffed as he put his wallet away.

"You can pay for the cab ride home. Does that make you feel better?"

"Oh, totally." Norman smiled as they entered the theater.

The pair went straight to the refreshments as they were already carrying their tickets. The theater was crawling with men aged 18-35 since it was the only theater in the area playing _Dead Rising._ However there were no other premiers that night, so the lobby wasn't too busy, and the line for snacks wasn't too long.

Dipper and Norman stepped up to the snack counter. "Okay, we'll get a... large popcorn?" -Dipper looked over at Norman, and he nodded in approval- "yeah, a large popcorn, and... what do you want to drink?"

"Uh, Mountain Dew?" Norman shrugged.

"Yeah, I could go for one of those. We can share. A large Mountain Dew." Dipper told the cashier.

"You want to share? What about like, germs and stuff?" Norman asked sheepishly.

"Two straws. I do it with Mabel all the time. That okay with you?"

"Yeah, it's fine." Norman smiled.

"And do you want any candy?" Dipper asked.

"Sour Patch Kids," Norman replied.

"You actually read my mind there... Yeah, one of those." Dipper said as the cashier picked out a package of candy.

"That'll be fourteen ninety-eight." The cashier stated. Norman reached for his wallet, but Dipper had already gotten out his credit card.

"Dip, you paid for my ticket. Let me get the snacks," Norman insisted.

"No way, it's your birthday. My parents just sent me money, it's no big deal. You'll just have to get me something really nice for my birthday, which is in June by the way."

Norman smiled. "Oh, could we get butter on the popcorn?" he asked the cashier.

"You butter it yourself, over there." The cashier pointed over to the butter-your-own popcorn dispenser next to the straws and napkins.

"Sweet! I love those things!" Dipper exclaimed as the two of them headed to the butter dispenser with all of their snacks.

"You want to drown our popcorn in butter?" Norman laughed.

"You read my mind twice in one minute... Are you psychic or something?" Dipper grinned at Norman.

_Or something._ "Uh, yeah." Norman smirked.

"Okay, what am I thinking right now?" Dipper asked.

"You're thinking that I'm lying about being psychic." Norman grinned.

"You got me." Dipper laughed as they reached the butter dispenser.

Dipper began to butter the popcorn, but Norman's eyes widened as he noticed that Dipper was doing it the completely wrong way.

"Woah woah woah, hold up. Let me handle this," Norman said as he took over the buttering operation.

"Here's what you do. Grab me some straws." Norman requested.

"Straws?" Dipper replied quizzically.

Norman rolled his eyes. "Watch and learn."

Dipper handed a few straws to Norman. Norman stuck the straws down into the popcorn, and then dispensed the butter into the straws.

"See? This way, instead of buttering just the top layer, the butter gets evenly dispersed through the popcorn."

Dipper looked speechless. "...Norman... you have opened my eyes."

Norman smiled. "Told you you were doing it wrong."

"I should listen to you more often." Dipper smiled at Norman as they picked up their snacks and headed over to the theater.

Norman looked around at the crowded theater. The previews had already started. "Woah, it's packed in here... do you think we'll get seats together?" Norman whispered.

"We'd better. Come on." Dipper brushed his hand against Norman's as he passed Norman to lead him towards some empty seats. Norman's face turned bright red as he followed Dipper. He was just thankful that the darkness of the theater would hide his flushed face.

They found two seats together towards the middle of the theater. Norman sighed with happiness and a hint of nervousness as he settled into his seat. Then he realized what trailer they were watching.

Norman leaned over and whispered to Dipper, "Aww, man, this is a preview for _Blood and Bones._ It's going to be _the_ best zombie pirate movie of the decade."

"We should totally see it together." Dipper whispered back.

"Opening night?" Norman grinned.

"Uh, yeah." Dipper smiled.

The trailer ended as the word _Thanksgiving _flashed on the screen.

"Oh, we can't see it opening night, aren't you going away for Thanksgiving?" Norman whispered at Dipper.

"Come spend Thanksgiving with us at Gravity Falls. We'll see it there, there's this awesome drive-in theater." Dipper replied.

Norman blushed. "oh... Okay." _He wants me to spend Thanksgiving with his family..._

"Movie's starting. This is so exciting!" Dipper grinned.

"Yeah..." Norman smiled. He decided to forget about what Coraline said. He leaned over and rested his head on Dipper's shoulder. It was warm and surprisingly comfortable. Dipper didn't have bony, pointy shoulders like Norman.

"You can't be tired yet, the movie just started." Dipper whispered.

Norman quickly pulled away from Dipper and sunk into his chair. _That doesn't mean anything. Dipper must have just... misinterpreted my action. _

horrorreview dot com was right, though, the movie was excellent. It was about three friends visiting New York City who were at the top floor viewing deck of the Empire State Building as the zombie apocalypse began. They had to make their way to the bottom of the building and out the exit before the zombies found their way to the top, and then escape Manhattan. Norman wanted to talk to Dipper during the movie, but it was so good that he didn't want to distract himself from the action.

About halfway through the movie, just as the first of the three heroes was getting zombiefied, Norman reached for some popcorn. As he was grabbing a handful, he felt something warm and soft on the top of his hand. Time slowed down. He took his eyes off the movie to look at the popcorn to see Dipper's hand on top of his. He looked up at Dipper. Dipper's eyes widened as he retracted his hand and said, "sorry, Norm."

Norman froze for a second with his hand still in the bucket. Dipper turned back towards the screen. Norman sighed and took his popcorn. He dropped it on the floor, though. He didn't really feel like popcorn.


	12. Chapter 12

The house lights came on as the credits began to roll. Norman had cried silently during most of the remainder of the movie, but Dipper had been so focused on the movie that Norman was pretty sure he hadn't noticed. Luckily, Dipper wasn't that observant. Norman was pretty composed now, though, and although he was not over Dipper yet, he was feeling a lot better than he had after the popcorn incident.

"Wow! That was great! I can't believe Mandy made it onto the train!" Dipper exclaimed as he turned to face Norman.

"Yeah, it looked like she wasn't gonna make it for a second there." Norman continued to stare at the screen.

Dipper finished off the last of the popcorn. "Hey, I heard there's a clip at the end of the credits. Do you want to stay so we can see it?"

"Yeah, sure." Norman replied.

"So Norman, who was your favorite character?"

Norman took his eyes off the screen and looked over at Dipper. "Uh, Mandy, I guess. It was cool how she fought off that one zombie. And she didn't leave Derrick behind when he was trapped under the bookcase."

"Yeah, I liked Mandy too. I really like the actress who plays her. She's kinda my celebrity crush."

Norman froze.

"Who's your celebrity crush, Norman? Wait, lemme guess... Ellen Page?"

"I'm... uh..." Norman said as he stood up. His face had turned a sickly pale, and his voice was void of inflection or emotion. He avoided looking at Dipper as he joined the mob of people leaving the theater.

Norman made a beeline over to the restrooms. Not a single thought went through his head; his only objective was to go somewhere where Dipper couldn't find him. He entered the mostly empty men's room and headed all the way to the last stall. He locked the stall door, put down the toilet lid, sat down, brought his knees up to his chin, and hugged his knees tightly. He couldn't cry. He wasn't really sad. He felt like he would never be happy or sad again. He just wanted to go back to Blithe Hollow and forget any of this had ever happened.

_Why did I have to meet Dipper? Why did I have to live with the most perfect guy on the planet? Why does he have to be straight? Why does he have to be so oblivious?_

Norman sat there for what felt like hours in endless agony and self-pity until he was pulled away from his thoughts by his phone ringing. He listened to the entire ringtone, as he couldn't care less about whatever it was the person on the other end wanted to say to him. A few minutes later, he heard a knock on the stall door.

"Norman? You in there?"

Norman tried to muster up the strength to tell him to go away, but he couldn't open his mouth. His phone rang again.

Dipper called to him from outside the stall. "Norman, buddy, I know you're in there. What's up? Whatever it is, you can tell me."

Norman began to sob. _Ugh. I hope Dipper doesn't hear me crying. I'm such a loser... I can't believe I fell in love with my roommate... I'm such an idiot..._

"Norman, come on... open the door."

Norman cried for a minute or two, and then took a deep breath to calm himself down. _Well, I've got nothing to lose... _

Norman unlocked the stall, and Dipper pushed the door open. Norman's entire face was red and slightly puffy from crying, and his face and hands were wet with tears. Dipper approached Norman and put his hand on the skinnier boy's shoulder.

"You wanna talk about it?" Dipper offered.

"_I thought this was a date..."_ Norman admitted. Saying it out loud made it seem so much worse than he had already made it out to be, and halfway through the second word, he began to cry again and the last few words of the confession were incomprehensible. Norman buried his head in his hands and continued to sob.

Dipper sat down on the floor and looked up at Norman. "What? I didn't catch that last part..."

Norman inhaled deeply and exhaled. He pressed his fingertips against his forehead and closed his eyes.

"Okay... look Dipper, I know you probably don't want to hear this, but... I want to be..." he gulped- "more than friends with you. I thought this was a date."

Dipper looked shocked. He sat with his mouth slightly open, and he looked as though he was going over past events trying to find something that should have tipped him off about this.

After a few seconds, he replied, "Oh my god, Norman, I am so sorry... I had no idea you were gay."

"Well, now you know." Norman stated. "And now, I have to explain to my parents that I need to transfer schools because I fell in love with my roommate."

"What? Transfer? Norman, you don't have to do that." Dipper put his hand on Norman's, but Norman moved his hand away.

"Of course I have to transfer. I screwed everything up. I was placed in a room with you, but instead of just being friends with you, I had to have a crush on you, and now I know that you have no interest in me, but guess what? You and your twin sister are the only friends I've made here, and I have no intention to continue to live with the dude who knows I'm in love with him but turned me down."

"Turned you down?"

"Yeah, Dipper, you apologized for putting your hand on mine during the movie, and then afterwards you told me you had a crush on the lead actress. That doesn't scream "interested" to me."

Dipper looked up at Norman. Norman exhaled as he looked down at Dipper. Dipper looked into Norman's eyes and said, "Well who says I'm not interested?"

Norman's heart stopped. His eyes widened and he caught his breath. "Wh... what?"

"I've never liked a guy before, but I've never tried. I'd be honored to date you, Norman."

Norman was on cloud nine. He smiled bigger and wider than he had in weeks. He stood up, but his legs felt like jello, and he toppled down onto the floor. His heart was racing, and he could barely talk. He wrapped his arms around Dipper, and his eyes welled up with tears when he felt Dipper hug him back. He buried his face in Dipper's warm, comfortable shoulder and laughed. He couldn't remember ever being this happy.

Dipper pulled away from Norman enough to face him. "Norman, there's something you have to know, though. I can't make any promises. I've never been attracted to a guy before."

Norman pulled away from Dipper just enough to look him in the eyes. "So... you like me, but you're not attracted to me?"

"Yeah, right now. But maybe, if we give dating a shot, I might become attracted to you. I really, really like you, Norman. I want this to work. More than anything."

Norman felt like his heart was going to burst out of his chest. He hugged Dipper tightly. They sat like that for a few minutes, hugging in blissful silence.

Norman's heavenly hug was interrupted when Dipper suddenly pulled away from him. "Norman, it's ten o'clock, we should get going."

Dipper helped Norman up. Norman's legs were still tingly, and it took him a few seconds to gain balance. Norman's face was bright red. He looked over at Dipper as Dipper looked up at him. Norman smiled.

_I can't believe this is happening._

The two of them began to head towards the exit. Their hands brushed against each other, and Norman blushed. _Am I supposed to hold his hand? Does he want me to? _

Before Norman could figure it out, Dipper took Norman's hand in his. Norman blushed even deeper, and he squeezed Dipper's hand as he smiled. The two of them walked out of the theater hand in hand.

* * *

Norman was still giddy when they arrived back at their room. They had been mostly silent the whole taxi ride back- Norman spent the ride with his head on Dipper's shoulder, and his hand on top of Dipper's. He unzipped his jacket and threw it over his chair.

"I'm gonna go make a call." Norman told Dipper.

"Okay, well, I'm gonna go say hi to Mabel and tell her the good news. Be back in a few." Dipper smiled at Norman as he left the room. Norman eagerly fished his phone from his pocket and called Coraline.

The other line rang a few times before Coraline picked it up. "Hello?"

"Coraline! The greatest thing happened!"

"Woah, Norm! What is it?"

"Dipper and I are dating!" Norman was so excited that he was surprised he could even say it.

"Oh my god! That is awesome!" Coraline exclaimed. "Congrats, Norm!"

"Yeah, well there's some bad news, too..." Norman looked down at the floor. He had forgotten about the bad news up until now. "Dipper isn't attracted to guys. He's not attracted to me. But he wants to be. He wants to make it work."

Coraline was quiet for a few seconds. "Yeah, that is bad news."

Norman sighed. "Do you think he could change for me?"

"I don't know, Norman. It's possible, I mean, I'm sure it's happened to other people before, but..."

"I shouldn't get my hopes up?" Norman said reluctantly.

"Yeah. Sorry buddy. I mean, he wants to be with you, but the rest is all up to his brain chemistry. That he can't change."

Norman sighed. He didn't like to think that Dipper's brain had anything to do with whether or not Dipper liked him. It should only be his heart. _Life's doesn't work that way, I guess..._

"Okay, well I'm gonna get to bed. Good night, Coraline."

"Good night, Norm. Whenever you wanna talk."

"Thanks." Norman hung up the phone. He changed into his pajamas and brushed his teeth.

A few minutes later, Dipper came back to the room. "Hey." Dipper grinned.

Norman was sitting on Dipper's bed using his laptop. Dipper sat down next to Norman and stared into his eyes, still smiling. Norman blushed.

Dipper opened his mouth and leaned in towards Norman. Norman's whole face was glowing red, and he instinctually moved his head away from Dipper's.

"Who told you you could sit on my bed?"

In one swift move, Norman put his laptop on the desk next to the bed with one hand and grabbed Dipper's pillow with the other. Before Dipper knew what was going on, Norman had slammed the pillow into Dipper's face. Dipper fell backwards on the bed, and Norman fell over after him. The two of them erupted in laughter, and as their laughter died down, they noticed that they were lying down next to each other.

Norman was incredibly embarrassed and quickly got up and sat down in the desk chair. His face was bright red, and he began to quiver nervously. Dipper sat up and looked at his new boyfriend.

"You don't have to be nervous, Norman."

"I don't really know how to be anything but nervous, Dipper." Norman said as he looked at the floor.

Dipper reached out towards Norman and put his fingers under Norman's chin. "You shouldn't look down all the time, Norman," Dipper said as he pulled Norman's chin up so that they were looking into each other's eyes. "Not everything is as bad as it seems. And I'm always gonna be here for you. No matter what."

Norman stared into Dipper's big, brown eyes.

"There's something I have to tell you, Dipper."


	13. Chapter 13

"What is it, Norman?" Dipper's expression grew concerned. Norman moved back onto Dipper's bed, and the two sat across from each other.

"So you know how I told you that I've had a bad experience with the paranormal?" Norman asked.

"Yeah, the thing with the witch's curse, right?" Dipper replied.

"Well... something else happened... and that's the real reason I had to leave Blithe Hollow."

Norman looked down at the floor. Dipper put his hand on Norman's cheek and gave him a reassuring look. Norman gulped and continued.

"So it was this past June. I had just graduated from middle school, and I was walking home to start summer vacation..."

* * *

Norman sighed as he turned the corner and stepped onto his street. He was glad to be done with school, but summer vacation was always tough because he could be quite antisocial. It took a lot of effort for Norman to keep in contact with his friends, and he was afraid that his friends wouldn't put any effort into keeping contact with him. He was reaching to open the gate to his house when he was confronted by a girl of about 16 dressed in all black.

"Norman Babcock?" The girl asked.

"Uh... that's me..." Norman replied shyly.

"I can't believe it's you, I've heard so much about you." The girl could have been described as a stereotypical goth chick, but she seemed genuinely interested in Norman. This was unlike most goths Norman had encountered, who weren't really interested in anything.

Norman wasn't surprised that she had heard of him. After the witch's curse incident, he was quite the town hero. Everyone had begun to take him seriously, and there were quite a few news stories about him, so for a few months he couldn't go anywhere without someone thanking him for dispelling the witch's curse or asking him to speak to a ghost for them.

"Yeah, well... I was just doing what any other medium would do in that situation." That was Norman's go-to line for when people brought it up.

"Norman, I have a favor to ask of you..." The girl looked distraught.

"What is it?" Norman asked.

"My friend died yesterday... I was wondering if you could join my friends and I in a seance. We really want to talk to her, and we hoped that you could help us." The girl looked as though she was fighting back tears.

"Oh! Of course. I'll talk to your friend for you."

"You will?" The girl looked relieved. She gave Norman a quick hug.

"When should I...?" Norman asked.

"The seance is at nine tonight. Here's my address." The girl handed Norman a slip of paper. "Oh and by the way, my name is Emily."

"Okay, Emily. I'll be there at nine." Norman replied. He waved to Emily as she left.

Norman sighed as he opened the gate and entered his house. He had talked to so many people's loved ones for them since Aggie, he couldn't keep track of all of them. He tried not to turn people down when they asked him to talk to their loved ones, especially if they were recently deceased.

"At least I have some plans." Norman said to himself as he poured a bowl of cereal.

That night at 8:55, Norman found himself wandering around in the dark looking for the address Emily had given him. It wasn't completely dark yet, but it was dark enough so that he couldn't read the house numbers. Finally he found the right house. It was an old Colonial, and all the lights were off, including the porch light. Norman checked twice before knocking, but finally he figured this had to be the house and went up to the door.

_Knock knock._

"Norman... you're here." Emily said as she opened the door. "Come in, have a seat on the floor."

There were around seven or eight other goth kids sitting in a circle on the floor. In the middle of the circle was a small table, about 2 feet by a foot and a half, and 2 feet tall. The table was covered by a cloth that ran down to the floor, and on top of the tablecloth was a bowl, herbs, some vials filled with liquids, a lighter, and a knife. On the floor next to the table were soup and bread. There were candles scattered across the room.

_Great. Witches._ Norman thought to himself. He had dealt with these types before. _ They think they can do anything I can just because they read it off the internet._

He reluctantly joined their circle. Everyone else began to join hands, so he held hands with the two kids next to him, completing the circle. Emily was not holding anyone's hand, however, and sat in the middle of the circle behind the small table.

"Alright. Norman, would you like to start the seance?" Emily asked.

"This isn't really how I work... I don't summon the spirit, I let the spirit come to me." Norman replied.

"Well, we've done this before. We just thought that because you have so much experience talking to the dead, your presence would strengthen the connection and enable us to talk to her for longer."

"Okay, well then, tell me what to do." Norman said reluctantly.

"Everyone chants together, _Our beloved Ophelia, we bring you gifts from life into death. Commune with us, Ophelia, and move among us. _You repeat the chant until she appears."

Norman and the other members of the circle chanted the phrase once, then again. After the second repetition, Norman began to feel strange. His body started to tingle, and he could feel a presence inside of him. He tried to keep his eyes shut, but something was prying them open. He felt his mouth open, and he heard himself speak, but he wasn't controlling what was coming out of his mouth. He could see everything, and he tried to move, but he was paralyzed. He heard the goth kids asking Ophelia questions, but Norman couldn't hear very clearly. It was as though he was underwater.

After a few minutes of this, Norman saw Emily begin to mix some of the herbs and liquids together in the bowl. Norman would have rolled his eyes, had he had control over them. _Witches._

He then watched Emily remove the cloth from the table. Norman realized the table was no table at all- it was a cat carrier. Norman watched in horror as Emily opened the carrier and pulled out a black cat. Emily held the cat down as it tried to squirm away. She chanted a spell as she pulled the knife from the floor.

Norman mustered all of his strength to take some control back from Ophelia. He pushed and pushed, focusing all of his thoughts and energy onto moving his hands, and finally he was able to release his grasp on the hands of the kids next to him. The circle was broken and Ophelia's spirit was released. Norman was in control of his own body again. Before the goth kids realized what had happened, Norman had grabbed the cat and ran out the door. The cat clawed Norman pretty badly in the chest since he had only been wearing a t-shirt, but Norman figured the cat was okay. It ran off into the night, and Norman sprinted home.

He told his parents the whole story. They sent him off to summer camp the next day, and since then, Norman had spent as little time in Blithe Hollow as possible. He decided from then on that any upsides to telling people about his curse were outweighed by the potential downsides, and that he would never tell anyone about his curse again.

* * *

"...So that's the story." Norman sighed. He had tweaked a few things about the story when he told it to Dipper- he didn't mention anything about communicating with a ghost other than Aggie, and chose his words thoughtfully to make sure Dipper didn't question anything.

Norman looked up at Dipper as if to say, "Well?"

Dipper was in shock. "You... you were possessed?"

"Yeah... I guess." Norman replied.

Dipper was still in shock. Norman put his arm around Dipper's shoulder.

"Didn't you say Mabel was possessed?" Norman asked.

"Yeah..." Dipper replied.

"I guess you're the last one left to join the club." Norman nudged Dipper.

"Norman, I'm still absorbing that story."

Norman couldn't believe he had gotten that off his chest. The image of the cat being held down still haunted him.

"Thanks for listening, Dipper. I just wanted you to know why I was so nervous about ghost hunting at first." Norman looked down.

"Any time, Norman." Dipper smiled. He put his hand on top of Norman's. Norman looked up at Dipper and smiled.

"Oh, wow, it's one o'clock already."

"I'm really tired, Norm. I'm gonna go to sleep."

Norman got up off Dipper's bed and got changed in the bathroom. He was especially anxious about getting changed in front of Dipper now, he didn't want to inadvertently move their relationship forward before they were ready.

Norman left the bathroom and entered their room. He looked over at Dipper, who was lying on his bed. He realized he was in a situation that he had been worrying about since his crush with Dipper had begun.

"Should we...?" Norman blushed nervously as he motioned over at Dipper's bed.

Dipper blushed. "...Norman..."

"Okay, we don't have to." Norman stated as he hurried up the ladder to his bunk.

"Norman?" Dipper called up to him. "It's not... I just, I don't want to move too fast."

"I know. I don't want to move too fast, either. I shouldn't have brought it up... I'm sorry." Norman buried his head under his pillow in anguish.

_I've been in this relationship less than 6 hours, and I've already screwed it up._

"Norman... It's alright. I know things are gonna be awkward, but it's not a big deal. I assure you, everything you're wondering, I'm wondering too."

Norman came out from under his pillow and blanket. "Thanks, Dipper. That makes me feel a lot better."

Dipper smiled. "Good night, Norman."

"Good night, Dipper." Norman smiled as he drifted off to sleep.

* * *

That night Norman had a very vivid dream. He dreamt that he was a pilgrim in 1600's Blithe Hollow. Norman had just turned 18, and his parents were pressuring him to marry one of the girls in town. He had never had any feelings for any of them, though. He had been in love with Dipper since he was 13. The two had been best friends since they were little. Norman knew what happened to gay people in their town, though, so he learned to hide it very well.

Norman had begun to throw subtle hints at Dipper to see if he would return Norman's affections. Norman would prolong his eye contact with Dipper, lightly brush his hand against Dipper's, and attempt to flirt with him in a not-too-obvious way. Norman couldn't tell whether Dipper was interested or not, but he had pretty much given up on the whole idea.

One day, though, he and Dipper were working out in the corn field, and Dipper slipped and fell on his back. Norman reached down to help Dipper up, but Dipper pulled him down instead. Norman was face-to-face with Dipper, who smiled at him. It took Norman a second to process what was going on, and his face turned bright red. He finally snapped back to reality and smiled back at Dipper. Dipper ran his fingers through Norman's hair and pulled him in for a kiss.

After that, Norman and Dipper were pretty much inseparable. They would volunteer for jobs in the fields farthest from town so they could speak freely with each other without worrying about anyone hearing them. They would steal kisses throughout the day, and sneak off to the barn at night. They would lay quilts over the piles of hay and fall asleep in each others arms. Norman loved the way his bare chest felt against Dipper's, the way Dipper would run his fingers through Norman's hair, the way Dipper would kiss his neck. They would whisper to each other about running away, living on their own, where they could be together without worrying. They began saving up food so that they could go off together someday.

One day, the two of them were working the field. Dipper's father came around and pointed out how Dipper wasn't doing a good enough job. Dipper's father turned around to leave, and as he left, Norman gave Dipper a kiss to cheer him up. They hadn't noticed, though, that Dipper's father had turned around and was coming back towards them. From there the dream was a blur- there was a lot of shouting, and Norman saw fire. He could feel himself being restrained, and he could see Dipper yelling in anguish. He called out to Dipper, but there was no answer.

Norman woke up covered in sweat. He took a few deep breaths and tried to go back to sleep.


End file.
